Galloway Township Introduces $24 Million Budget

Galloway Township Manager Arch Liston introduced a proposed budget of just over $24 million Tuesday night, March 26 a decrease of nearly $1,800,000 from last year.

The $24,042,596.92 proposed budget is down from last year’s $25,839,541.54 budget.

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.

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.

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.

There were over 2,000 tax appeals last year. As of Tuesday night, there were about 1,200 appeals to this point for 2013.

“This is a balanced budget, but we’re not out of the woods yet,” Liston said. “We still have tax appeals to deal with, and we’re looking at potentially 2,000 appeals this year.”

A $950,000 hybrid reassessment is under way, and may have an impact on this year’s tax appeals.

The public hearing for the proposed budget is scheduled for the council meeting on April 23.

Liston became the township manager last year, and began working on the budget almost immediately.

The number of township employees has been reduced from 145 to 123, but there are no more furlough days. The reserve fund for uncollected taxes increased from$1,065,290.81 last year to $1,692,525.65.

There is no deferred school tax.

As Liston stated, the township is “not kicking the can down the road.”

“Every department was cut,” Liston said. “We cut jobs by 15 percent. We outsourced the cleaning of the building. We moved vehicle maintenance back in house, and that saved us $200,000.”

“We appreciate your leadership on this,” Mayor Don Purdy said.

Councilman Jim McElwee also appreciated the proposed budget, but was unhappy with state aid.

“The state mandates we work under the 2 percent cap, but the last state budget was closer to 4 percent,” McElwee said. “State aid remaining flat is not something to jump up and down for. It was still less than we should’ve gotten.”

Liston stated the township worked with the unions for hundreds of hours. He emphasized the difficulties of this year’s budget process when asked by resident Richard Price about the absence of a citizens’ budget committee.

“This was a budget of chopping and meetings,” Liston said. “We couldn’t have citizens sitting in on hundreds of hours of meetings with the unions.”

“The community wants to be a part of the budget,” Price said.

“(Council and the township manager) understand the process,” resident Anna Jezycki said. “The average person doesn’t know what’s happening. When you have a citizens’ budget committee, word gets out. Someone can stop me and ask me what’s going on and I can explain it to them.”

It’s the second year in a row the township didn’t have its traditional citizens’ budget committee. There was no committee last year due to instability in township management, Purdy said. The township has replaced its manager each of the last two years.

Purdy said the township would look into putting one together for the 2014 budget, sometime around June of this year.

Liston stated the township may look at an increase in manpower for the Galloway Police Department for that budget, but only if money allows for it.

“We recognize the need is there, but if we can’t afford it, we’re not going to do it,” Liston said. “We’re not going to replace people we can’t afford.”

The proposed budget will be posted on the township’s website by 9 a.m. Wednesday morning, Liston said.