Politics & Government

Galloway Council Unanimously Adopts 2013 Budget

The budget is just over $24 million.

The world is not perfect, and neither is the 2013 Galloway Township Municipal Budget, but council felt the latter was close enough on Tuesday night, April 23.

Council adopted the proposed $24,042,596.92 budget by a vote of 7-0 following a public hearing Tuesday night.

The budget carries a local tax rate increase of 2.93 cents, from 45.1 to 48 cents per $100 of assessed value. An average home assessed at $218,000 will see an annual increase of $63.87.

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The increase on the tax rate comes out to about 6 percent.

State aid to the township remained flat for the fourth year in a row, at $2,581,284.

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The township lost $90 million in ratables last year. The loss in ratables is attributed to tax appeals, and the loss in ratables had a 3.17-cent impact on the tax rate.

The township expects this year’s hybrid reassessment to stifle the number of tax appeals, beginning with next year’s budget.

Prior to the adoption of this budget, council voted in favor of increasing the collection rate, which would allow the township to subtract tax appeals from its tax levy, as opposed to creating a negative line item in the budget.

“This would change the appeals from a negative thing into a neutral thing,” Tax Auditor Leon Costello said.

Members of council couldn’t name a single aspect of the budget in which the township could’ve been more conservative.

“(Township Manager) Arch (Liston) did a decent job on this,” said Councilman Jim Gorman, who voted against last year’s budget. “We’re not using the school deferment tax, we have less employees. There’s not many other places we can cut.”

The township reduced its workforce from 145 people last year to 123 this year. Five senior police officers retired, but since then, two officers were promoted, and the department promoted a Class II officer to full-time.

Gorman felt it was a move in the right direction.

“If previous councils had listened to Leon in the past, we wouldn’t be in the position we’re in today,” Gorman said. “ … Arch has put us in a better place than we were before. He’s more stubborn than some other managers we’ve had.”

“The township is in a very good spot,” Mayor Don Purdy said. “I praise Arch, the leadership, the department heads and the employees who sacrificed a lot.”

Purdy agreed with Gorman that previous councils should have been more conservative, but that since he’s been on council, all they’ve done is cut.

“We’re going in the right direction,” Purdy said.

Resident Anna Jezycki was concerned about the senior center, which is still in need of a kitchen. The center is being run by Deputy Director of Public Works Division of Community Services Beth Stasuk.

“She needs five heads for five hats,” Jezycki said during the public hearing. “ … We’re helping her and we’re doing the best with what we’ve got, but we need a lot of volunteers.”

Resident Tom Mitchell has been hammering the township publicly over lowering taxes for years, and he thinks the township may reach that goal within the next two years.

“That sounds legit,” Liston said.

This year’s budget was balanced, but every department suffered cuts.

“The economy’s bad and there’s not going to be a drastic change overnight, but this is a very good start,” Purdy said.

“I don’t agree with everything,” Gorman said. “This budget is more realistic than it has been in the past.”

A copy of the budget as introduced in March and posted on the township’s website is attached to this story.


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