Last of three parts

When the Salisbury Township Board of Commissioners considers the 2020 budget and tax ordinance, which is on the agenda of the 7 p.m. Dec. 12 meeting, at the municipal building, 2900 S. Pike Ave., it won’t be a matter of mere numbers.

As of the deadline for this article, the Salisbury Township 2020 general fund budget is $8,400,947 and, combined with all budget categories, the total 2020 budget is $16,696,970.

Several changes have been made in the appearance of the budget, in terms of categories and in the way the township administration handles those categories.

The budget also looks at township plans and needs, projecting out five, 10 and 25 years.

The changes are outlined in the 2020 budget draft prepared by Salisbury Township Salisbury Township Director of Finance Paul Ziegenfus.

Increases in fees and taxes are expected on average to cost township property owners $93 more per year.

If the budget is approved at the Dec. 12 meeting, it is expected to be the final township commissioners’ meeting for 2019.

The township commissioners’ next scheduled meeting is 7 p.m. Jan. 6, 2020, which is the board reorganization meeting.

Salisbury residents who use public water provided by the Lehigh County Authority will have to pay water rates of $8 more quarterly, or $32 more annually. The increase is a pass-along from LCA.

The 2020 water rate is to increase from $6.60 per 1,000 gallons to $7 per 1,000 gallons.

The 2020 sewer rate increase is $3 quarterly, or $12 annually.

In 2020, Salisbury property owners, on average, will pay more to the township fire fund, an increase of $18, or 0.081 of a mill and also more to the township general fund, an increase of $31, or 0.14 of a mill. The increases quoted are based on the $225,000 median assessment of properties in the township.

The estimated overall increase per residence is $93 in taxes and fees, on average, which is derived from adding together the $32 water rate hike, the $12 sewer rate hike, the $18 fire fund hike and the $31 general fund hike.

The 111-page 2020 draft budget is available for public review at the township municipal building and on the township website, under Township Information: https://www.salisburytownshippa.org/township-info/budget.

This, the third part of a three-part series, looks at the narrative of the 2020 budget. The second part, published in the Dec. 4 Salisbury Press, looked at the capital fund. The first part, published in the Nov. 27 Salisbury Press, looked at the general fund.

The budget includes information about the township, including a short history of Salisbury.

Following annexations by Allentown and other municipalities, Salisbury is now 11.3-square miles.

The budget includes a township map, which diagrams the five wards. It also includes government, police department, community development and public works organization charts, general fund revenue five-year comparison listing, five-year chart and pie-chart sources and lists each department’s achievements in 2019 and goals for 2020.

In the budget’s executive summary by Salisbury Township Manager Cathy Bonaskiewich, it’s stated: “Overall, the 2020 budget focuses on maintaining current service levels. We did not include any major changes to services but continue to look for ways to reduce costs where we can while maintaining high-quality services.

“In 2019, we have filled some staff vacancies, replaced our chief of police of 25 years, and finished a seven-year major [Lindberg] park improvement project.

“As we return to a full complement of staff, we feel confident that 2020 will be another year of providing excellent customer service to Salisbury Township residents,” states the narrative budget.

The capital fund is now a stand-alone fund in the budget, a change in not only the presentation of previous township budgets, but also of the administration’s funding structure.

“Since splitting out capital into its own fund, we are able to focus on the operational expenses for each fund and what revenue is needed to support the fund,” the budget narrative continues.

“In addition, we continue to update the 10-year capital replacement plan and how much funding will be needed annually into the capital funds to support ongoing capital needs.

“Based on the 10-year replacement plan, the average annual capital expenditures are approximately $564,000. In the current General Fund Capital Budget, we are budgeting $468,000 in expenditures with the general operating fund transferring $350,000 into the capital fund. The shortfall will be covered by previous year capital reserves.

“For all ‘stand-alone’ proprietary funds (water, sewer and refuse-recycling funds), we have calculated the rate needed to budget the revenue we need to collect from residents and at what rate we should charge for these services.

“In addition, we have developed a 10-year equipment replacement plan to determine funding needs for the water and sewer funds. Any major project work needed for water or sewer will need to be funded through debt financing. We cannot increase rates to cover future project work as it would be too much to put on each rate-payer,” the budget narrative states.

There have also been changes to the fire fund.

“In the past, some fire expenditures were recorded and/or covered by the general fund. We have amended the budget to include all of these costs within the fire fund. Fire company incentive payments, fire truck debt payments and utilities will now all be paid directly from the fire fund.

“These changes created a deficit in the fire fund of approximately $100,000, so we are proposing a tax millage increase of .081 mills which will generate an additional $104,000 of revenue solely for the fire fund. This proposed tax increase will get us to a break-even budget.

“Fire capital fund shows that we need to increase the annual amount of taxes earmarked for capital from $101,000 per year to $120,000 per year. This will allow us to fund fire apparatus more adequately under a 25-year replacement plan we have developed.

“We recently hired a fire services director to oversee both fire companies. In addition, the township implemented a new fire brigade,” the budget narrative states.

Under salary and benefits, it’s noted salary and benefits are now recorded under each township department.

“This will more accurately reflect a total cost by department,” the budget narrative states.

“Salary costs increase annually based on current collective bargaining agreements. Administrative staff follow the Public Works contract so all non-uniformed staff will receive 3.75 percent. Police will receive 3.5 percent.

“All non-uniformed staff will also contribute to their defined benefit plan. For the 2020 budget year, non-uniformed employees will contribute 1.5 percent of their salary and police will continue to contribute 3.04 percent.

“We have received our new health insurance rates for 2020. Health insurance premiums have increased by 12.9 percent over 2019 rates. Non-uniformed employees’ bi-weekly contributions increased by $5 per pay.

“We have not received a quote for workers compensation premiums. Premiums will increase due to several claims made in 2019. We have built in an increase in 2020.”

The budget narrative also notes accomplishments in the township during 2019. Here are some highlights:

“We started to implement the new rental inspection program in 2019. We are still recruiting for a part-time inspector to fully implement the program. We expect the program to be fully implemented in 2020.

“The Department of Environmental Protection approved our five-year Pollution Reduction Program. We will start the design and planning phase at the end of 2019 and in 2020. Public Works will complete some of the tasks of the plan in 2020. We do not plan on any major PRP projects in 2020.

“Highway Aid (also known as liquid fuels) continues to grow its fund balance. We are projecting an ending fund balance of $861,000 at 12/31/2019.

“We are budgeting $250,000 for several road projects with Highway Aid dollars in 2020. In addition, we budgeted $155,000 to replace the township’s paver out of Highway Aid equipment dollars. We are reflecting a reduction in Highway Aid fund balance in 2020 to cover these items.”