Budget and Finance
2010 BUDGET STATEMENT
(Revised 12/9/09)
SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP, MONTGOMERY COUNTY, PA
The Springfield Township Board of Commissioners proposes a balanced operating budget for 2010 of $17,094,466 with a real estate tax rate of 3.370 mills and an earned income tax rate of 1.0 percent.
2010 REAL ESTATE TAX RATE
| General Purpose Tax (max. 30 mills) | 3.370 mills |
| Court Approved (max. 5 mills) | 0 mills |
| Special Purpose Taxes | 0 mills |
| 3.370 mills |
To summarize the impact on the “typical” taxpayer as a result of the 2010 budget projections, the taxpayer will realize no net change to the real estate tax, but will experience an increase in the refuse service fee and sanitary sewer rental and conveyance fees. The 2010 budget proposes to maintain the real estate tax rate of 3.370 mills identical to 2007, 2008 and 2009. The refuse service fee will increase by $8.16, while the sanitary sewer rental will be increased by an average of $46.62 per household.
The “typical” household in Springfield Township with a $175,400 property assessment will pay $591.10 in real estate taxes in 2010, the same as was levied in 2007, 2008 and 2009. The 2010 township budget was decreased by $189,145 or 1.1% from 2009. The changes to the budget are due to contractual increases in salaries and employee benefits, utility expenses, sanitary sewer conveyance fees, and a reduction in the value and quantity of special projects and equipment to be funded through capital reserve funds. The budget continues to reflect stormwater management projects intended to relieve flooding throughout the Township. Residents will continue to pay for sanitary sewer service and refuse collection and disposal through separate fees.
In 2009, the City of Philadelphia increased by 37% the sanitary sewer conveyance and treatment fees charged to Springfield Township. The increase by the city was necessary in order to come into compliance with the Federal Clean Water Act, and to realign their costs to treat biochemical oxygen demand and suspended solids. As a result, the 2009 sanitary sewer fee was scheduled to increase by an estimated $68.45 per household. However, the Board of Commissioners buffered the 2009 increase by approximately 68% by appropriating funds from the Township sanitary sewer reserve fund. In 2010, the sanitary sewer treatment and conveyance fees are expected to increase by an additional 9%. Once again, the Board of Commissioners will be off-setting a portion of this increase through the use of sanitary sewer reserve funds. As a result, the average Springfield Township resident may experience an increase of $43.62 in the 2010 sanitary sewer fee based upon average water consumption of 66,622 gallons. The Philadelphia conveyance and treatment fees are the single most determining factor in setting the sanitary sewer rental fee. To the extent that these fees are increased, the Township must pass the increase along to the end users which, in this case, are those households utilizing the municipal sewer system. For 2010, the discounted sanitary sewer rental rate for each 1,000 gallons of wastewater treated is set at $3.67, an increase of $.68 per 1,000 gallons treated.
The 2009 discounted refuse service fee was $183.46 and is proposed to increase by $8.16 in order to provide residents an incentive-based recycling rewards program. The tipping fee charged by the Waste System Authority of Eastern Montgomery County will remain the same as in 2009 at $63.00 per ton. The subscription fees for the recycling rewards program, coupled with a stable tipping fee, an improving market for the sale of recycled materials, and relatively static local operational and capital costs, will result in a 4.5% increase to the 2010 refuse service fee.
The Township will continue to fund its general budgetary obligations through traditional revenue sources such as the Real Estate Tax, Earned Income Tax, Real Estate Transfer Tax, Mercantile and Business Privilege Taxes, Licenses and Permits, Fines and Departmental Earnings.
The proposed 2010 budget is available for inspection in the Office of the Township Manager and the Township Library. Summary copies of the Budget are available upon request. The Board of Commissioners will accept questions and comments on the Budget at special public meetings held for this purpose on Wednesday, December 9, 2009, at 8:00 PM; and again on Wednesday, December 16, 2009, at 8:00 PM.
2010 Budget Summary