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Proposed Fire Station to Raise Tax by Almost 50%
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On 1/9/2012, the Exeter Township Supervisors heard a plan by the Exeter Tonwship Fire Department for construction of a third fire house.
As reported by the Reading Eagle on 1/10/2012, "Preliminary plans are for a 10,000- to 15,000-square-foot building with meeting rooms, capacity for live-in firefighters and apparatus storage. The annual cost of operating the firehouse is estimated at $150,000 to $200,000 a year."
In order to pay for the new facility, ETFD Chief Jordan suggested that an almost 50% increase in the services tax should be implemented. This would call for an increase to 0.75 mils from the current value of 0.5 mils. The services tax was first implemented a couple of years ago when the fire department requested the tax as the means of funding to replace the fundraising that had been used for many years to successfully fund the department.
Chief Jordan also suggested that homeowner insurance rates in the area of the new fire station would decrease as a result of having the station in close proximity to the properties. This suggestion was unsubstantiated at the meeting and the board asked that factual information be provided to them regarding this assertion.
More information is to be provided at the next Board of Supervisors Meeting on 1/23/2012. Public comment is encouraged in order help the supervisors make their decision on this matter.
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3 New School Board Directors Oppose Tax Increase
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On 1/17/2012, the Exeter Township School Board approved the Preliminary Budget for the 2012-2013 school year. The budget was required to be approved for submittal to the Pennsylvania Department of Education earlier this year than last. The budget currently calls for expeniditures that are $2.8M in excess of revenues. Most of the board members agree that the budget must be cut significantly prior to the final approval in May.
Act 1 limits for the 2012-2013 school year allow the district to increase taxes by 1.8%. As part of the voting meeting, a measure was recommended to the board. This recommendation was for the board to approve a request for exceeding the limits set forth in Act 1 to the maximum allowed due to increases in pension contributions and to offset costs incurred in construction of the new elementary school. This increase, if accepted by the PA Dept of Ed. could enable the district to raise taxes by 4.1%. This would mean an increase from the current rate of 29.9 mils to 31.2 mils for the 2012-2013 school year.
The three newly elected directors voted "NO" on this measure. Andrew Yawger noted that he was opposed to any tax increases and any increase over the Act 1 limits should only be with voter approval via referendum. Kathleen Muzevich echoed this and noted that there is a lot of work to be done to lower the budget by the time the final budget would be submitted.
The measure was approved by the board by a vote of 6-3 to request exceptions to the limits of Act 1.
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