The committee will keep $12,000 in squad funds and $10,000 in unanticipated expenses.
At last week’s meeting, the Tabernacle Township Committee discussed modifications to funds for aid to volunteer ambulance companies, after the the budget was put to a halt at the May meeting when Committeewoman Kimberly Brown opposed the proposed budget reductions.
The budget reductions presented at the May meeting were to take $40,000 out of the capital improvement fund, $10,000 from workers compensation insurance due to Tabernacle Rescue Squad’s offer to pay for its insurance coverage, $5,000 from garbage and trash removal, $10,000 from public buildings and grounds, $6,000 from fire department expenses and $23,000 from aid to volunteer ambulance companies.
At the April meeting, a $5,000 decrease in the aid to the ambulance companies was discussed, taking the aid from $35,000 to $30,000. This made the now $23,000 decrease come as a shock to some, leaving $12,000 in squad funds.
Brown was concerned the decrease would result in residents being balanced billed, and therefore voted “no” to the resolution.
Since Mayor Joseph Barton and Committeeman Richard Franzen were not present at the May meeting, Brown’s vote left the committee at a standstill. To pass a budget, there needs to be a majority of the full committee in agreement.
At the June 4 meeting, it was first proposed for $22,000 to be given to the squad, which Brown and Franzen were in support of. With Committeeman Joseph Yates, Deputy Mayor Stephen Lee and Mayor Joseph Barton in opposition, the committee had to reconsider its options.
As presented at the May meeting, leaving $12,000 in squad funds was once again discussed. Township administrator Doug Cramer suggested keeping an additional $10,000 for unanticipated expenses, in the event the squad needed the extra funds at the year’s close.
A majority of the committee, Yates, Lee and Barton, voted in favor of this.
The committee will hold a public hearing on the budget at the next meeting on June 25 at 7:30 p.m. at Town Hall.
In March, when the committee introduced the budget, the proposed budget was $4.3 million. As originally introduced, the budget would have increased the municipal tax rate by one cent to 43.2 cents per $100 of assessed property valuation.
That increase would have raised municipal taxes by $26 for a Tabernacle resident with a home valued at the averaged assessed value of $263,744.
According to the 2017 tax information, if the most current budget was passed, there would be no tax increase and the municipal tax rate would have stayed at 42.2 cents per $100 of assessed property valuation.
In other news:
- There will be re-advertising for the chief financial officer position.
- Arch Liston has been appointed as the public safety director.
