Whitemarsh: Budget, Local Business Better than Expected

The Whitemarsh Board of Supervisors received some encouraging news at their Thursday meeting, as finance director Tom Mullin delivered his mid-year budget report.

Mullin announced that the township was going to have more money than originally anticipated upon year's end.

"Due to extraordinary nonrecurring revenue sources, the final balance of the general fund increased to $3.3 million," Mullin said.
 
Mullin said that the additional funds came primarily from three areas. First, a change in the state Department of Treasury's pension collections resulted in $342,000 more than anticipated. Secondly,  additional business permits, including one from McNeil Consumer Healthcare, added $186,000 in new revenue. Finally, the township saved roughly $459,000 after business tax refund claims were lower than expected.

Those three sources alone more than offset the $614,000 taken from the township's rainy day fund to balance the budget in 2012.

In addition, Mullin said that local business and personal incomes seemed to be heading in the right direction in the township.

"Business tax revenues alone are sixty percent higher [than 2011], although I must point out that last year was an extraordinarily bad year," Mullin said. "We're still not comparable to years prior to 2008, but we're inching our way back."

Mullin also said that earned income tax revenue was up five percent from a year ago. However, he wasn't sure how much of that was due to increased personal wages, as opposed to the appointment of an additional tax collector by the county.

Either way, Mullin said he was "anticipating an increase in earned income tax [revenues] from this year to the next."

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