(11/26) The Liberty Township Board of Supervisors is likely to raise taxes for the second time in 15 years. During the board’s November meeting, supervisors unanimously approved a 2025 budget proposal with a half-mill tax increase.
"We have been pretty frugal in a lot of ways," Supervisor Vice Chairman Bobby Keilhotlz said. "I am certainly not for increases; I don’t know who would be. The prices of things certainly are not going to get cheaper."
The supervisors cited the need to rebuild the township’s reserves while maintaining roads and keeping pace with increased costs.
If approved in December, the proposal will cost Liberty Township residents about $50 per $100,000 of assessed property. The increase will allow the township to add $84,173 to its reserve account.
The 2025 budget proposal totals about $500,000. Supervisor Chair Walter "Mickey" Barlow warned that $250,000 is left in the allocated reserve account, or about six months of township operating expenses. The township’s unallocated reserve account, which covers unexpected expenses, will be down to $50,000.
"We can’t continue to pull money from reserve accounts," he said.
Supervisors also discussed the importance of continuing to maintain township roads. In 2024, the township spent about $225,000 on Bullfrog Road. Supervisors expect to finish the project in 2025 at an estimated cost of $175,000. The township is completely reconstructing Bullfrog Road, Barlow said. In the past, crews used tar and chips for an inexpensive fix that had longterm financial implications.
Liberty Township supervisors plan to reconstruct one road every year, Barlow said. Pecher and Orchard roads are on the schedule after Bullfrog is complete. Supervisors lauded the township road crew’s willingness to work for relatively low rates. Hill noted that the township needs to prepare to replace the staff at a higher rate when the current crew decides to resign.
Septic tanks
Liberty Township residents who have not yet had their septic tanks pumped must do so soon. Barlow reported that the township sent letters to about 600 township residents earlier this fall that the tanks must be pumped by Oct. 31.
As of the first week of November, about half of the residents had not reported that they complied, Barlow said. The supervisors decided to send a second notice to those in arrears stating that they must comply by Dec. 1. The supervisors will discuss during their December meeting how to proceed with those still not in compliance.
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