This Zoom meeting focused on Wawa delay, sewage treatment plant Moves, fire services agreement with Borough, LI/O-LI Overlay “By Right” Zoning, 2025 budget preview, more...

Includes:

• Opening Presentation
• Discussion
• Links to More Information
• Detailed Meeting Notes

Welcome to the September 23, 2024, Meet Mack Monday Zoom meeting presentation!

The goal of Meet Mack Monday meetings is to inform residents of township issues that impact them and to get feedback and comments from residents about such issues.

Mack's #NewtownPA News of Interest:

• 2024 Budget Available,
• A Bridge Too Far to Nowhere,
• Plastic Bag Ban Proposal,
• Stop Signs Still Stymied!,
• more...

This presentation focuses on #NewtownPA Supervisor John Mack's review the 2024 DRAFT budget. Topics include:

* Highlights
* Tax Millage Rate
* 2024 Road Program
* Fire Protection
* Debt Service – LED Street Lights, Pedestrian Crossings
* Need for Future Tax Increases

Summary of 11 October 2023 BOS Meeting: 2024 DRAFT budget presentation

https://www.johnmacknewtown.info/11oct23bos.html

Proposed 2024 Budget Highlights

* Tax Millage Rate
* 2024 Road Program
* Fire Protection
* Debt Service – LED Street Lights, Pedestrian Crossings
* Calabro Speaks to Need for Future Tax Increases

More...

#NewtownPA Township taxpayers will see a 3 mill increase in their municipal tax rate next year under the manager’s recommended budget for 2024 [see chart above].

In his annual budget presentation before the board of supervisors Wednesday night, manager Micah Lewis recommended a 2 mill increase in the township’s fire protection fund and a 1 mill increase in its debt service.

According to Lewis, the millage increase in the fire fund is needed to pay for a $250,000 contribution to the Newtown Fire Association. The fund also anticipates a contribution to its the capital fund of $660,000 for future capital purchases, including a new fire truck to replacing an aging engine.

The one mill increase in the township’s debt service would pay for the conversion of the township’s public streetlights to the more cost efficient LED fixtures along with building lighting upgrades and the purchase and construction of a pedestrian warning beacon at a mid-block crosswalk on Newtown-Yardley Road at Tara Boulevard.

With the proposed tax increase, the township’s millage rate would rise to 13.115 mills, which equates to a total municipal tax bill of $511.10 on a house with an average assessment of $38,971.

Budgeted expenditures are expected to rise to $16 million from $14.8 million in 2024. Expenditures are largely driven by personnel costs, operational expenses impacted by inflation and one time capital purchases.

Salary increases are budgeted at three percent for at-will employees while exempt employees are budgeted in accordance with the township’s collective bargaining agreements.

The township currently has 73 employees. With the five additional employees in the budget, the township will end 2024 with 78 employees.

More highlights…

2021 Audit Discrepancies, Human Relations Commission, Yet Another Lower Dolington Rd Trail Promise, N Sycamore St Grant, Pedestrian Safety, 2023 Budget Discussion, More…

This is my personal summary of the November 22, 2022, meeting of Newtown Township Board of Supervisors (BOS). This is not a complete nor an official summary.

Access the 2022 BOS Chronicle for a more detailed summary of this meeting plus an updated BOS voting record (UNOFFICIAL) for 2022.

Agenda Items

• 2021 Audit Presentation - Discrepancies Found
• Reports of Committees, Boards and Commissions
  • Planning Commission Update: Joint Comprehensive Plan
  • Mack's Report: Human Relations Commission vs K-12 Education Discrimination
• Engineer's Report
  • November 4, 2022, Engineer’s Report
  • Update: N. Sycamore Street Keystone Grant
  • Next Steps: Pedestrian Crosswalk Improvements at Newtown Walk
  • Lower Dolington Road Trail – Yet Another Promise!
• Old Business
  • 2023 Budget Discussion: Funds for NFA Retention and Recruitment
• Official Video

Joint Comprehensive Plan, Hiring Officers of Color, Toll Bros Land Development, Pedestrian Safety, 2021 Audit, 2023 Budget Discussion, More…

This is my personal summary of the November 9, 2022, meeting of Newtown Township Board of Supervisors (BOS). This is not a complete nor an official summary.

Access the 2022 BOS Chronicle for a more detailed summary of this meeting plus an updated BOS voting record (UNOFFICIAL) for 2022.

Agenda Items

• Reports of Committees, Boards and Commissions
  • Joint Comprehensive Plan
• Public Comment
  • Resident Makes Case For Hiring Police Officers of Color
• Land Development
  • Consider Preliminary as Final Plan approval for Newtown AOP (Toll Bros.)*
• Engineer's Report
  • Engineer:  November 4, 2022, Engineer’s Report
  • N. Sycamore Street Pedestrian Safety
  • Pedestrian Crosswalk Improvements at Newtown Walk
• Manager's Report
  • 2021 Financial Statement (Audit)
  • October 2022 Police Report
• Old Business
  • 2023 Budget Discussion
• Official Video

Manager’s 2023 Budget Presentation, Newtown-Wrightstown Police Services Agreement, More…

This is my personal summary of the October 12, 2022, meeting of Newtown Township Board of Supervisors (BOS). This is not a complete nor an official summary.

Access the 2022 BOS Chronicle for a more detailed summary of this meeting plus an updated BOS voting record (UNOFFICIAL) for 2022: https://www.johnmacknewtown.info/2022boschron.html 

Agenda Items

• 2023 Budget Presentation and authorization to advertise
• October 7, 2022, Engineer’s Report
• Consideration to approve contract extension with Wrightstown Township for Police Services
• September 2022 Police Report
• Frank McCarron on Newtown-Wrightstown Police Agreement
• My Meeting Notes
• Official Video

More...

Welcome to Meet Mack Monday (MMM).

I am John Mack, your host and a Newtown Township Supervisor.

Each month I host a Meet Mack Monday Zoom meeting to inform residents of items that are of interest to them and to get feedback and comments from them. This helps me keep better informed of residents’ concerns when voting on important issues at supervisor meetings.

This video was presented at the October 17, 2022, MMM meeting via Zoom. It included the following discussion Topics:

* 2023 Budget Highlights
* Newtown/Wrightstown Police Services Agreement
* NO TURN ON RED - Pedestrian Safety
* Old Business: Wawa Update, Toll Bros Update

2022 Budget Approved, Joint Zoning Council Report, LED Street Lights Update, November 2021 Police Report, North Sycamore Street Pedestrian Safety, More...

This is my personal summary of the December 8, 2021, meeting of Newtown Township Board of Supervisors (BOS). This is not a complete nor an official summary.

Agenda items:

• 2022 Budget Approved
• Public Comment - improving the budget process
• Reports of Officials - Engineer, Police
• 8 December 2021 Bills List - Bills total $354,465.253
• My Detailed Notes - lots of background info and links

More...

The Newtown Township 2022 Budget was approved unanimously by the Board of Supervisors at the December 8, 2021, public meeting. The vote was 4-0 vote (Mr. Oxley was absent).

The only change from the Preliminary Budget was an adjustment of tax revenue projections: increasing the year end projection by $18,000 for Delinquent EIT tax and increasing the year end projection for Real Estate Transfer tax by $165,560. These amendments resulted in a 2022 year end fund balance figure of $1,504,615 which equates to 10.09% of total budgeted expenditures.

Meanwhile, in a public comment before the BOS, resident Frank McCarron gave the Township Manager a lesson in how to properly develop the township budget based on actual numbers rather than essentially cutting and pasting from previous budgets and making inaccurate income and expenditure projections. Mr. McCarron didn't use that language, but as a Supervisor that's how I see the current process.

View an 11-minute video clip of Mr. McCarron’s comments and see the Approved 2022 Budget…

Reports from Planning Commission; Engineer's update: DCED Watershed Restoration Fund grant, Lower Dolington Road Multi-Use Trail, Village at Newtown Traffic Study; Solicitor's Report: Legal NAC Expansion Project, Bucks County EMS Chief’s Association Request for ARPA Funds for EMS; Budget Discussion; Hybrid Meetings; Planning Commission to review Arcadia HOP Application; More...

This is my personal summary of the November 23, 2021, meeting of Newtown Township Board of Supervisors (BOS). This is not a complete nor an official summary.

Contents

• Public Comment
• Reports of Committees
• Reports of Officials
• Bills List
• Old Business
• New Business
• My Personal Notes

Read more...

At the November 10, 2021, Newtown Board of Supervisors (BOS) meeting, supervisors approved the "hanging" (i.e., advertising to the public) of the 2022 Preliminary Budget, which is a revision of the Manager's recommended budget.

The main difference between the Preliminary Budget and the recommended budget is the elimination of a new 1.5 Mill real estate tax dedicated to the Fire Protection Fund. Instead, the Preliminary Budget allocates $350,000 from the General Fund to the Fire Fund. This will result in a lower General Fund reserve; i.e., $1,284,055 (8.6% of expenditures).

Historically, Newtown has strived to maintain a reserve of at least 10% of expenditures. The Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) recommends that local governments maintain a fund balance equal to two months of expenditures, equivalent to approximately 17% of General Fund operating expenditures. In 2020, Newtown Twp's reserve was $2.8 million (23% of expenditures). In 2021, the reserve is estimated to be $3.0 million (also 23% of expenditures).

View the video of the discussion leading up to the vote...

The Wrightstown Board of Supervisors is working on a 2022 municipal budget that anticipates keeping the township real estate property tax rate the same as in 2021.

Supervisors discussed aspects of the preliminary budget at their Monday, Oct. 25 public meeting.

Supervisor Chairman Chester Pogonowski said the board anticipates that the general fund portion of the budget could increase 3.9% next year to $2.054 million.

The largest budgeted item in the general fund is police protection coverage, an expense that is increasing, per terms of a contract, about 5% to $846,527*, Pogonowski said. In addition to police, the general fund component of the budget pays for a variety of essential services, including township administration.

Despite the expected expense rise in the general fund, Wrightstown supervisors believe they’ll be able to keep the municipal millage rate at 9.23. The last millage rate increase occurred in 2018, Pogonowski said.

Several Newtown Township residents met with Supervisor John Mack via Zoom on Monday October 18, 2021, to discuss the Manager’s Recommended Budget and Toll Bros recommended settlement agreement. This meeting took place just prior to the Budget Presentation before the Board of Supervisors.

Some highlights of the Meet Mack Monday meeting include:

• Status of SAFER grant, which would allow the township to hire five (5) additional full time firefighters at a cost of $1.8 million dollars to pay the cost of the firefighters for the years 2022, 2023, and 2024.

• Police Hiring and New Police Vehicles: The Police Chief wants to purchase three police patrol vehicles in 2021 and hire one additional full-time officer.

• eConsult Study: Does the Manager’s proposed 2022 budget follow the recommendation of the October 2020 e Consult study?

• Increase Tax for Fire Protection Fund: Also discussed at this Meet Mack Monday was the $300,000 to be added to the Fire Protection Fund and given to the Newtown Fire Association (NFA) to help provide coverage on weekends. That money will come from the proposed 1.5 mill tax increase.

See more details and listen to the discussion…

[Image: "Sorry! I can't show you the actual draft budget," said John Mack. The public won't be able to see the budget until AFTER the election in the second week of November or later.]

On October 18, 2021, Newtown Township Manager, Micah Lewis, presented his DRAFT 2022 budget to the Board of Supervisors (BOS). This was a public in-person meeting attended by all the department heads, Fire Chief, and Police Chief.

Mr. Lewis's presentation summarized the major budget items. The unedited presentation is embedded at the end of this post. You can download the PDF version here. View the 1.5 hour video archive of the meeting.

The Supervisors were able to ask questions as well as the public although there were only a handful of residents in attendance. 

Some 2022 Budget Highlights

• Total revenues: $13,193,088 (vs $12,722,257 in the 2021 budget; there is an estimated fund balance forward amount of $2,995,785, for a projected total of $16,188,873 available in 2022); Total expenditures: $14,554,818 (vs $13,811,834 in the 2021 budget); Net fund balance: $1,634,055 (11% of expenditures vs 20% projected for 2021)
• Addition of one full time Police Officer; Addition of one full time Deputy Fire Chief (see "A Growing Township Staff").
• Purchase of a new Fire Chief’s Vehicle and three police patrol vehicles. Financed purchase of two public works utility vehicles, and one Parks and Recreation pickup truck. 
• Police Department Facilities Study to assess current and future building needs (see "Police Department Facilities Study"). 
• 3.11 miles of road work expected, not including additional alternates (see "Road Repairs").
• Tax increase of 1.5 mills proposed in the Fire Protection Fund.

More, including videos of township officials answering my questions....

Since 2011, Upper Makefield Township’s real estate tax has been reduced from a high of 13.3525 mils to the proposed 2022 level of 7.25 mils. 

Meanwhile, Newtown Township increased its real estate tax by 3.99 mills in 2021 Budget for a total of 8.49 mills. 

The 2022 Preliminary Budget is available now for public review and slated for consideration of adoption at the Board of Supervisors Public Meeting on October 19, 2021. As presented, the proposed budget reduces taxes next year by 0.3525 mils.

The Township is on course to repay all debt, including a voter-approved Open Space bond, by 2025. In addition, a five-year Capital Improvement Plan is funded for Administration/Facilities, Police, and Public Works improvements. The 2022 Preliminary Budget includes a General Fund transfer of $350,000 to the Capital Fund.

More 2022 Budget Highlights

• The General Fund retains a comfortable fund balance.
• 2022 Road Improvement Program allocation of $580,00 for improvements to 10 Township roads.
• Funding for one additional full-time police officer.

The Preliminary Budget is available for review at the Township office and online.

Meanwhile, the 2022 Newtown preliminary budget probably won't be available to the public until near the end of November.  The Newtown supervisors voted to "hang' the 2021 preliminary budget on November 25, 2021. In effect, the public did not get a chance to actually download that budget until after Thanksgiving!

Meet Mack Monday to Discuss the Newtown Twp 2022 Budget

If you want to get a heads up on the 2022 Newtown Township budget, please consider attending the October 18, 2021, Meet Mack Monday Zoom Meeting: The 2022 Newtown Twp Budget. More information and registration form can be found here.

ON June 21, 2021, Newtown Township supervisor John Mack met with several township residents via Zoom to update them on the following:

• Starting the 2022 Budget Process Sooner Rather Than Later
• Overview of Arcadia Land Development Plan
• Overview of Wawa ZHB Hearing
• Progress Report on Lower Dolington Road Trail Project
• Spending COVID Relief Money (American Rescue Funds) -  Survey Results
• Hybrid Public Meetings - including summary of preliminary survey results

View the Zoom video archive, including notes from the meeting.

In a split vote Tuesday, the Newtown Township Board of Supervisors approved a 2021 budget that nearly doubles the property tax rate.

The $13.8 million spending plan increases the township's millage rate from 4.5 mills to 8.49 mills, an 89 percent jump. [Calculate your tax here.] 

[Several] last-minute expense cuts to the budget [were made] — eliminating a new Director of Zoning & Code Enforcement position that was slated for next year, nixing a $20,000 study for a new police building, reducing new police vehicles from three to two and reducing the road program by $50,000 — that were ultimately approved as part of the spending plan.

Supervisors Oxley, John Mack and Dennis Fisher voted in favor of the budget. Supervisors Philip Calabro and Kyle Davis voted against the measure, with Calabro noting that the revisions did not impact the tax rate increase*.

[Listen to all comments here.]

The full budget is available for viewing here.

Related Content:

• “Newtown Supervisors Approve Final 2021 Budget By a 3-2 Vote”; http://sco.lt/9KWKYa
• “Newtown Residents Voice Concern Regarding the Preliminary 2021 Budget”; http://sco.lt/5xuLTc
• “Dear Santa, Please Lower Taxes”; http://sco.lt/5KUby4
• “Newtown Township Supervisors Vote to Advertise the Preliminary/Proposed 2021 Budget”; http://sco.lt/4y6F6G
• “Newtown Township's Proposed Tax Increase Put Into Perspective”; https://bit.ly/unalarmingNTtax
• SURVEY RESULTS: “What Would You Cut From the Proposed 2021 Newtown Township Budget?”; https://johnmacknewtown.info/budgetcutsvy.html

[Above: A resident comment submitted via John Mack's 

 2021 Budget Cut Survey.]

Many Newtown Township residents were understandably upset about the proposed Newtown Township “Preliminary 2021 Budget,” which includes a 133% increase in municipal property tax. For the average Newtown Twp homeowner that translates to an ADDITIONAL $200 to $300 per year paid in taxes to the township.

That version of the budget included many new and increased expenditures for personnel, services, and capital improvements.

John Mack’s Budget Cut Survey* asked respondents to select items in the preliminary budget they would be willing to cut in order to reduce or eliminate the proposed tax increase. The list of items to cut includes many – but NOT all – of the expenditures in the originally proposed preliminary budget. A total of 128 responses were collected.

The final budget was approved at the 22 December 2020 BOS meeting by a 3-2 vote. Voting for this budget were Dennis Fisher, John Mack, and David Oxley. Voting against were Phil Calabro and Kyle Davis.

The following expenditures cuts were made.

• Eliminate hiring of new Director of Zoning & Code Enforcement. 65% of survey respondents chose that as an item to cut. Estimated savings: $40,000
• Reduce the Road Program by $50,000. Although a high percentage (47%) of survey respondents were happy with cutting $280,000 from the road program. The majority of supervisors felt it was important to continue to pave at least 3-4 miles of roads every year.
• Eliminate New police building study. This was "no-brainer." 84% of survey respondents chose that as an item to cut. Estimated savings: $20,000
• Reduce new police vehicles from 3 to 2. 73% of survey respondents chose that as an item to cut. Estimated savings: $56,667

TOTAL ESTIMATED SAVINGS: $166,667

The final APPROVED budget includes a 3.99 mill increase in Newtown property taxes, which is a decrease of 2 mills from the preliminary budget. That works out to be about $160 per year increase for the average homeowner. The total Newtown property tax is 8.49 mills or about $340 per year. Calculate your tax here.

DISCLAIMER: This was not an official Newtown Township Survey. It’s purpose was solely to inform John Mack, a Newtown Supervisor, of residents' opinions. The opinions expressed here are solely those of John Mack and do not represent the opinions of any other person or entity.

Let's discuss this at tonight's Board of Supervisors Zoom meeting.

Register to attend here: https://bit.ly/NTBosReg09Dec20

You will be put into the waiting room and let into the meeting once you have been verified as a legitimate registered attendee.

Even the most optimistic assumptions about the course of the pandemic point to fiscal consequences for states and local governments that “would be the worst since the Great Depression” and take years to dig out of, Dan White, director of fiscal policy research at Moody’s Analytics, concluded.

The squeeze at the state level reverberates in urban, suburban and rural counties in nearly every corner of the United States, and officials are making piercing choices.

In Kansas City, Mo., with a municipal budget of $1.7 billion, the city manager has asked each department to draft a plan for cuts of more than 11 percent. That could mean laying off 200 police officers from the 1,300-member force and 180 firefighters and emergency medical technicians, said Dan Fowler, a City Council member.

To avoid layoffs, the city is cutting the pay of higher-level employees by 10 percent* and requiring most other employees, including police officers, firefighters and emergency responders, to take 26 unpaid furlough days — one every two weeks — next year. The move amounts to a 10 percent pay cut, and comes on top of six furlough days imposed on the city’s roughly 4,000 employees through the end of this year.

State and local employees make up roughly 13 percent of the nation’s work force.

Jerome H. Powell, the chair of the Federal Reserve, and many economists have warned that reducing state and local spending will further drag down a weak recovery, as it did after the Great Recession. Spending by state and local governments accounted for about 15 percent of the nation’s economic activity, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, part of the Commerce Department.

While the federal government can run budget deficits to cover both regular and unexpected expenses, states generally cannot.