While the proposed $48.4 million 2014 Bristol Township budget does not include a tax increase, the amount of unfunded liabilities for one of the largest township’s in the state has grown by roughly $7 million in the past 12 months and could cost taxpayers in the long run.
Township Manager Bill McCauley said last week that the unfunded liabilities will continue to plague the community in the years to come. “[The budget] is a mixed bag. It’s doing well in the places we can control,” he said at the most recent township council meeting.
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In a letter summarizing the proposed budget, McCauley wrote the “cost of providing post-retirement health insurance to retired police officers continues to be a financial albatross to the fiscal well-being of the township, and ultimately could threaten the ability of the township to provide basic services to its residents.”
The township of 54,500 has worked over the past few years to cut cost while maintaining services, which McCauley said have remained steady and even grown in some cases.
“We’re living within out means,” he said as he presented a slideshow that had numerous charts reflecting cost savings.
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The proposed budget has about 80 percent of the general fund going to pay the community’s 114 full- and part-time employees. Due to attrition, that number is down five full-time members from 2013.
Click here to see a copy of the proposed budget
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McCauley highlighted new cell phone service, copier and electric contracts as helping to bring down the cost of running the township. A “road map” developed through a grant from the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Committee has also helped the township cut costs and expand further efforts to go green. A recently approved trash contract is expected to save $1.2 million in 2014, which will save taxpayers $20 a household.
The proposed budget featured funds to construct a new building at the Public Works Department facility in Croydon to store vehicles that are currently outside. Other capital projects will add three marked police vehicles, add lights to the sports fields by the township building, allow for the purchase of a new public works truck and a grant will carry over to help fix the municipal office building. About $150,000 is also budgeted for a new fire truck for the Fire Marshal’s office staff to use, but McCauley said that money could be carried over to next year depending on whether the township decides to buy a new or used fire engine.
The police department is expected to have 61 officers and command staff members next year, which is down from 2013 by two. Civilian full- and part-time staff will increase slightly year over year, according to a breakdown in McCauley’s presentation to taxpayers. It is unclear if any officers will be added to the strained force protecting a town with one of the highest crime rates in the county.
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McCauley touted plans to pave more than 24 miles of township roads in 2014. By the end of 2014, the township is expected to have paved 68 miles of roadway in the past several years. It has been noted by township officials in the past that some of the roads being repaved are more than 50 years old.
Members of the council and McCauley have previously attributed improvements in the township’s financial situation and infrastructure as reasons more businesses have been moving in. In the proposed budget, new or expanded businesses will contribute $50,000 in additional revenues through the mercantile tax.
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The proposed budget will be voted on by Bristol Township Council at 7 p.m. on December 19 at the municipal building on Bath Road.
