Road Maintanence, Police Support is Key in 2012 for Limerick Township

The Limerick Township Board of Supervisors met for a budget workshop meeting in mid-October to discuss potential needs and desires within the municipality. Among the most important were road improvements and added police assistance, especially at the Philadelphia Premium Outlets.

The 2012 budget, according to the presentation, is based on a business policy to stay conservative. The property tax is staying stable because of assessment appeals. A lot of the Gambone properties in the area are going up for reassessment.

The presentation also revealed the PennDOT Liquid Fuel Fund is staying stable. With a noted lack of development this year, there will also be various grant opportunities that the township is looking to be proactive toward.

The 2012 general fund is currently showing a deficit, as $908,132 is needed to balance the budget. The real estate tax rate is $0.638.

It costs $524,598 every year to maintain the parks in the township. Between the parks and recreation department and the department of public safety, the anticipated cost for 2012 may be $764,205. The administration said historically, the general fund is used to balance those figures out, meaning about $460,000 would have to be added to the general fund's $908,132 estimate.

The supervisors and administration pinpointed this as a major issue that must be addressed moving forward with the budget.

Chief Bill Albany was in attendance to give a presentation on current status and the needs of the department. The police budget in 2011 was $2,911,989. He is asking for $3,031,812 in 2012.

The true increase is about five percent, considering contracts and salary raises.

For capital requests, the department has one scheduled replacement of an SUV, which would cost $41,837 for the vehicle and the upgrade equipment. Albany said the cost of a new radio is included in that figure, but may not be necessary.

Albany also placed a new server by the name of Alert 2 to integrate with the state Law Enforcement & Justice Information Systems. The system is grant-funded and is a secure server. Monies would come out of the Homeland Security Fund.

"We've wanted to get this for a while," Albany said. "This will enable us to stop John Doe if he is acting suspicious by the Power Plant. LEJIS will tap into other police department serves in real-time from the field. This is where we should be."

Despite receiving the grant, the system would still cost the department $17,000.

Supervisor Joe St. Pedro supported the installation of LEJIS over the purchase of a new vehicle if only one had to be chosen. Albany revealed that the vehicle has 77,000 miles on it and will be close to 100,000 by the time Officer Kevin McGuigan is done going back and forth to Philadelphia.

Albany's fear is coming in next year or in two years and needing six cars as opposed to one.

Finally, for capital requests, Albany said the department needs a storage unit, like a 24-by-24 shed to store big, bulky items in the short term. He budgeted $7,500, which is the list price.

The department is also asking for another police officer.

"In 2006, the township asked me to put together a seven-year budget," Albany said. "In the budget, I said that by now, we should have 29 officers. Upper Providence has 24 officers including three detectives. We're the second biggest township in the county and we only have 21 officers including two detectives."

The police force is young, according to Albany, and doesn't mind overtime, but they're "getting beat up."

The new officer would cost $107,000 a year with salary, benefits and equipment.

The supervisors came to an agreement after a discussion that it is costing the township $40,000 per year to have an officer at the Philadelphia Premium Outlets. With such a high crime rate at the outlets, the supervisors and Albany agreed that they should receive financial aid from the company for having officers patrolling there.

The conclusion was to try to set up a meeting between the two entities and find a way to achieve this goal. It was noted that Black Friday is completely covered financially by the outlets.

The administration also went over public works, which used $1,399,250 for road maintenance alone in 2011 and wishes to use $1,454,973 in 2012 - a four-percent increase, leaving a deficit of $101,116.

Absolute necessary road repairs in 2012 include Metka Road, which is about to be wrapped up, as well as Collins and Dunleavy. These projects combined will cost $461,000.

Capital requests for public works also include a new tri-axle dump worth $175,000, the replacement of a 2006 F550 dump costing $52,000, the replacement of a 2004 case loader costing $115,000, the replacement of a 2006 F350 pickup costing $12,000, a new tilt equipment trailer costing $7,000 and a new line painting spray machine costing $4,000.

About $100,000-worth of fencing is also suggested.

The administration and supervisors also discussed sewer, personnel, parks and recreation, codes and zoning and administration costs in the meeting, with no major increases requested. They will present the preliminary budget to the public at the Nov. 15 board of supervisors meeting, slated for 7 p.m.

Overall, here is a list of remaining facts from the meeting:

Over the past year(s):

• In 2011, the approved general fund was $750,380, the approved road improvement fund was $40,000
• There was a $1,575,711 road improvement fund bid that was not used in 2011
• The capital equipment fund used $243,500 for a police vehicle in 2011
• The real estate transfer tax has gone down from $787,533 in 2007 to about $350,000 in 2011
• In 2010-2011, costs for permit revenues were inflated because of building/renovations of , and the . Township officials noted there is not as much development in 2011-2012

2011 Year-End

• Continued efforts over normal operations is expected to further reduce the use of reserve funds by $75,000 ($653,994 is required to balance the budget)
• There were no reduction of services and no increase in taxes in 2011