Township OK’s $3M budget

Springfield Township Council last week approved its $3.27 million budget, which represents an average $45 annual tax increase.

By: Scott Morgan
   SPRINGFIELD — The Township Council last week approved its $3.27 million budget, which represents a $45 annual tax increase for the owner of the township’s average-assessed home, $323,500.
   Though a yearlong reassessment has raised the value of the average home from $160,000 to $323,500, officials say residents will not see a dramatic increase in their municipal property taxes this year.
   On April 13, the Township Council OK’d the 2005 township budget, which carries a 26.46-cent tax rate. What that means to the owner of a property assessed at the new average, is a municipal tax bill of about $856 a year.
   In 2004, the owner of the average home (which then was $160,000) paid about $810. How it works out, according to Deputy Township Clerk Judy Schetler, is that the tax rate gets cut approximately in half when the value of the average municipal property doubles after a reassessment. That’s because the amount of money being brought in through commercial properties (ratables) doubles, reducing the tax rate for homeowners, she said.
   The reassessment, which concluded in February, was the first in Springfield since 1988.
   The 2005 proposed budget is about $315,000 higher than the 2004 budget. Part of the increase is due to a $150,000 grant for road repairs from the state Department of Transportation, and another part is due to an additional $25,000 that the township is allotting to its five emergency service departments, Ms. Schetler said. The remainder of the increase, she said, is largely due to rising insurance and benefits costs.
   Though the township has included the DOT grant in its budget, Ms. Schetler said, officials are not certain yet when or where it might be used.