Municipal budget discussions continued at the March 14 Tabernacle Township Committee meeting.
After being instructed by Mayor Stephen Lee to cut the budget by about 10 percent to avoid a tax increase, Township Administrator Doug Cramer came up with two separate budgets that would fulfill this objective using different paths.
The committee also decided to pass an ordinance establishing a cap bank in case the township were to spend more than this small budget provides.
However, as township CFO Terry Henry explained, establishing the cap bank doesn’t necessarily mean they’re going to use it, but they will have the opportunity to until it expires in two years.
“We’re not committing to spending any money here. This is just to set up the process in case we want to exceed the cap by a certain percentage down the road,” Committeeman Richard Franzen said.
The ordinance received some heat in public comment, as residents were not happy about the idea of not raising taxes this year but instead capping it for a future year’s use.
“This would constrict Tabernacle for at least the next year and then hit us with a very large tax,” resident Jason Litowitz said. “In the long term, I do not think that is good public policy.”
Megan Jones said people are naturally going to be against an immediate tax increase but certain things such as being able to safely travel from point A to point B during the winter is of great importance to her, especially with a child.
“Where it is appropriate to cut from the budget, I am all for it,” she said. “But please do not cut off our nose to spite our face out of a fear of possibly raising taxes to endanger safety or lessen services we currently have.”
As far as the two new budget options created by Cramer, option one required no tax increase and no use of deferred school tax, as was discussed in the previous meeting. This budget consisted strictly of cuts throughout several areas of the budget that would potentially create distinct changes in how the township does business.
The overall budget would be cut from $4,303,249 to $3,753,567, which is less than what the township spent last year.
“If we do this, we will have no surplus to carry forward for proceeding years,” Cramer said.
If this option were selected, it would eliminate the use of court, the recreation department for seniors, three public works employees, two additional snowplow drivers, any part-time help in the township office, any additional employees and all salaries of the committee.
Option two consists of a combination of the use of school tax, a tax increase and some budget cuts.
This budget would be cut $256,000 with a requirement of $300,000 in deferred school tax and a tax rate increase of two cents. This option would keep most of the township’s services, however it would eliminate any additional employees and would take cuts out of public works, emergency management and the fire department.
This budget would also provide a surplus of $320,000.
After both options were presented, Committeeman Joseph Barton proposed the idea of going line by line and talking about everything in the budget individually to decide which option the committee wants rather than vote on three budgets that were put together by the administrator.
Deputy Mayor Joseph Yates, who was in charge of the meeting due to Lee’s absence, suggested the group schedule another meeting to further discuss that matter with everyone in attendance.
The budget has to be introduced by March 18 or the next scheduled meeting after that, and a budget has to be adopted by April 22.
