Township Manager Discusses Goals, Taxes and Trader Joe's

Matthew Serakowski has been the Township Manager of Upper St. Clair for nearly three years. He is the man responsible for the administrative functions in the township, provides assistance to the Board of Commissioners and oversees the the activities of eight different departments -- including the police, the library and the public works. Serakowski recently took the time to answer some questions from Upper St. Clair Patch, to give residents a better idea of his views of the community.

Upper St. Clair Patch: What are your goals for Upper St. Clair in 2011?

Serakowski: Every two years the Board of Commissioners, along with department heads and key staff members, holds a public planning session at which time the priorities are established. The top priorities for the township set in 2010 included continuing to develop and grow the , effectively address budgetary concerns that impact the township as well as the entire region, pursue a reverse 911 notification system, continue to explore commercial development assessment and related opportunities, and continue to meet the EPA requirements for the administrative sanitary sewer consent order and feasibility study.

Upper St. Clair Patch: What services or information about the township do you wish more residents knew about in Upper St. Clair?

Serakowski: Where do you begin, that we continue to operate an ALL volunteer fire department, that we have a Community, Recreation and Aquatics Facility that cannot be compared to any other within the region, that over 10 miles of interior walking trails exist within the 450+ acre, township-owned, Boyce Mayview Park, that the township is recognized locally and nationally for the services provided or that Upper St. Clair was identified as one of the “Top Ten Best Places to Live in the United States."

I believe top on any list would be what goes unnoticed on a daily basis - the pride the entire staff has in their jobs and providing unrivaled service in a cost effective manner to the residents and visitors of Upper St. Clair.   

Upper St. Clair Patch: Some residents in Upper St. Clair complain about high taxes. How do you defend the taxes in Upper St. Clair? Do you think the taxes deter new people from moving into the township?

Serakowski: The numbers speak for themselves. When you compare your local municipal tax to those of Bethel Park, Mt. Lebanon and others, Upper St. Clair is extremely competitive.  See the chart in the photo slideshow to the right.  The second chart in the slideshow is a breakdown of the local tax: township, school district and county by percentage.  

I encourage the public to get online and review the 2011 budget document that includes a wealth of information and data as to where each dollar goes and how it compares along similar areas.  

For the reasons noted above I do not believe individuals are dissuaded from moving into the township. They move here for the first class service, clean streets, safe neighborhoods, community programs, the Community & Recreation Center and number one school district in the Commonwealth. They move here expecting and receiving top rated services for their dollar. 

Upper St. Clair Patch: Many residents are apprehensive about the Allegheny County reassessments. Is there any advice you can give residents regarding this issue? If so, what?

Serakowski: According to state law, the township must adjust its millage rate to allow for no more than 105% of the previous year’s collections in real estate tax. This action effectively makes any reassessment increase revenue neutral for the total aggregate collections of the municipality. However, an individual taxpayer may see an increase or decrease from their previous year’s tax bill based upon what the average percentage of increase was in the aggregate of the township’s assessed values as compared to an individual taxpayer’s assessed real estate value. 

More easily explained, if a taxpayer’s assessment increased by 15 percent under the mandated reassessment, but the township’s aggregate assessed value increased by 20 percent, that taxpayer would see a decrease in their tax bill. Conversely, if a taxpayer’s assessment increase was 25 percent, they would see an increase. Generally, in Upper St. Clair, older properties that have increased in value due to favorable market factors have not been adequately assessed by the county for those increases in previous years, and will see larger increases compared to properties that have sold recently and had their assessed values adjusted based on that sales data.  

Upper St. Clair Patch: There is a very strict ordinance for gas and oil drilling in Upper St. Clair. Are there any active requests for gas or oil drilling in the township?

Serakowski: Many would be interested to learn there are already 13 gas wells within the township and seven more have been plugged over the years for one reason or another. As for the Marcellus drilling that is all over the news there are no active requests to drill and it remains to be seen if we will ever see any considering the limited areas of development left within the township. 

Upper St. Clair Patch: The Commissioners approved Trader Joe's in January. When do you think customers will be able to begin their food shopping at Trader Joe's?

Serakowski: Construction should be underway in the coming months.  The new store should be opened late 2011, early 2012.