No Tax Increases, Decreases in Township's 2012 Proposed Budget

Director of Finance August Stache presented the 's 2012 proposed budget at the commissioners' meeting on Monday night, which includes no tax increases or decreases.

The real estate tax and earned income tax rates are projected to remain at 4.60 mills and 0.8 percent, respectively.

However taxpayers should know that as of Jan. 1, 2012, taxpayers who currently file quarterly local earned income tax returns will no longer be required to do so. Act 32 will require employers to do so. Taxpayers will still be required to file final returns, reporting the amount of taxes withheld during the prior tax year. Click here for more information.

The general fund operating expenditures for 2012 are estimated to grow at 1.42 percent over 2011 budgeted expenditures. Stache said this is due to an increase in fuel and supplies costs.

A street repaving program of 1.1 million has been budgeted for 2012. In addition, the township has committed $150,000 to the development of sidewalks. The location of the sidewalks are not yet known.

Stache said the is self-maintaining. Operating expenses are expected to increase by 6.6 percent due to floor replacements and an increase in custodial costs.

Membership rates are estimated to increase by about three percent in 2012, which is a lower rate increase than the previous two years' increases. About 73 percent of the members are Upper St. Clair residents and 27 percent are non-residents.

Other initiatives planned in the 2012 budget include a redesigned township website and a full roll-out of the township’s reverse 911 system. The reverse 911 system will allow staff to notify residents in case of an emergency or adverse situation in a timely fashion.

Also noted by Township Manager Matthew Serakowski in the 2012 proposed budget are "accomplishments." He wrote, "the township is excited at the prospect of having the first Miracle League Field in the South Hills region... The township, through funding from the Allegheny Regional Asset District, contributed about $125,000 towards the project. The remainder of the approximately $875,000 needed to complete the project was raised through private fundraising efforts."

Another accomplishment as noted by Serakowski, the construction of the Upper St. Clair Veterans Park. "Funding for the project has come via a grant obtained from the Redevelopment Authority of Allegheny County ($150,000), the township ($25,000), the Upper St. Clair School District ($10,000), and private donations and in-kind services valued at about $600,000," Serakowski wrote.

To read the full budget proposal and more of the township's 2011 accomplishments—including development and —click on the pdf file located under the photo above.