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Foster Township Supervisors hold the line on taxes for 2009
By ADAM VOSLER
Era Reporter
a.vosler@bradfordera.com
The Foster Township Supervisors announced Monday that there will be no township tax increase in 2009, a surprise to some considering the poor economy and rising costs of virtually everything.
At the monthly meeting, Supervisor Chris Wolcott explained that a tax hike seemed imminent due to rising health insurance costs. However, the township managed to increase employees’ insurance only 19 percent instead of the expected 44 percent.
“It will go up, but we were able to work out an agreement with our employees to keep it down,” Wolcott said.
The township’s millage rate will remain at 4 mills.
However, some residents will see a small sewer rate increase in 2009, according to a motion passed by the supervisors.
Households with a connection installed before 2006 will pay $24 a month, up from $22 last year. Township lines built after Jan. 1, 2006, will still cost $43 per month.
Supervisor Cary Kaber voted against the proposal; Wolcott and Supervisor Chairman Bob Slike were in favor of it.
Kaber said he doesn’t expect the large, imminent, Act 537-influenced sewer rate jump to occur for another two or three years.
Bradford City passed a resolution this fall to adopt the multi-million-dollar Act 537 sewage facilities plan, which local officials worry will force sewer rates to rise significantly because it calls for massive upgrades to the sewer treatment plant and other improvements.
The Bradford Sanitary Authority has sent its plans to the state Department of Environmental Protection, but supervisors seemed to agree Monday that DEP likely won’t approve the authority’s proposal due to omission of previously-planned water retention tanks, which partly caused the project’s high price estimates.
Harrisburg Run resident Dale Yohe commented that those who pay $43 monthly for a new line should see a smaller tax increase than a customer with an older line, because new lines aren’t leaking and contributing to the “inflow and infiltration” that results in system overflow and a need for more storage capacity.
Kaber replied that the area’s expected $9-$12 rate increase will go towards sewer treatment plant upgrades, not “I&I” reduction. Still, the supervisors agreed that Yohe had a fair argument and that they could look into the matter.
Other notable numbers from the township’s 2009 budget include the supervisors each receiving a $1,687.33 stipend. The police department’s four full-time members, including Chief Jeff Wolbert, will make $179,000 total.
On a final note, the supervisors and township road foreman Joe Sweet urged the public to keep parked cars away from streets so that plow trucks can do their jobs.
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