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…

Newtown Township property owners could be facing much bigger tax bills if recommendations from a consultant are adopted by the township supervisors.

A final report from Econsult Solutions Inc. that lays out a five-year financial plan for the township recommends a property tax hike of between 5.75 and 9 mills, depending on what other measures are taken to increase revenue and create more financial efficiency.

That's an increase of between $215 and $310 in annual taxes for a real estate owner with a property assessed at the township average of $37,459. The increase would be applied to the township's general fund now funded strictly [mostly] with an earned income tax. Newtown Township's current total real estate tax millage of 4.5 is among the lowest in Bucks County.

Citing the economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic, some residents urged against any tax increase in emailed comments read during the meeting where the supervisors voted to accept the consultant's final report.

"Given our job losses, the last thing we need is a tax increase," one resident wrote.

"Raising our real estate taxes is totally unacceptable," another stated.

Econsult's other recommendations include hiring 10 more employees over the next five years, including an assistant township manager, full-time code enforcement manager, three new police officers and five new paid firefighters.

The supervisors will consider the recommendations as part of their work on the 2021 budget that will start soon, but are not obligated to implement any of them.

Newtown Township's savings account will be gone by the end of 2021 if there is no significant hike in property taxes, the report projected. This year's $13.1 million township budget has projected revenue of $12 million and uses $1.05 million of the $2.37 million fund balance, or savings account, to balance revenue and expenses. That will leave a projected $1.3 million in the savings account at the end of the year.

Among other advantages, the property tax increase will bolster revenue in the general fund and help make sure the township maintains a fund balance of at least 10% of annual expenses, Econsult official Steve Wray said during the recent supervisors' meeting where the final report was accepted.

Reached after the meeting, supervisor John Mack said he would be wary of hiring five more paid firefighters without knowing yet whether the township will get a grant that would pay the salary and benefits for three of them.

[CORRECTION: The SAFER grant application asked for enough money to pay 100% of salaries and benefits for ALL 5 new hires for THREE years. After that, the township will have to pay for those expenses. Keep in mind that career firefighters are part of a bargaining unit with well-defined employment rights.]

"However, I do see the need to raise taxes in order to end the deficit spending that has been the norm over the last few years even without hiring new personnel," Mack said.

The recently completed Newtown Citizens Survey reveals that many residents are concerned about the condition of roads, streetlights, etc.

Question 8 of the survey asked respondents to rate several services as Excellent, Good, Fair, or Poor. Responses weighted using scale of 1 to 4, with 1 being “poor” and 4 being “excellent.”

Snow removal, street cleaning, street lighting, and street maintenance received were among the services receiving the worst ratings.

One of the goals of the Newtown Township 5-year financial plan is to attract new business to Newtown and help all businesses thrive. When asked to identify the two TOP priorities that the township should focus on for attracting new business, Public Infrastructure was the top choice with 45.6 % of respondents.

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[ESI laid out three different scenarios going forwarded as shown in Slide #22. All involved real estate tax increases.]

Hiring several new employees, including three police officers and an assistant township manager, are among recommendations from a consultant for improving Newtown Township finances over the next five years.

A consultant also suggested looking into regionalizing more services including police operations.

The township hired Econsult Solutions Inc. [ESI] for $69,450, half of which is being covered with a grant from the state Department of Economic and Community Development, to develop a five-year financial plan (read “Newtown Township To Develop a 5-Year Financial Plan”; http://bit.ly/5yrplanRFP-NP). Steve Wray and other company officials presented findings from its preliminary report during a recent virtual meeting with township supervisors (see here: https://bit.ly/InterimESIsummary).

Among the other recommendations was increasing property taxes 6.5 mills from its current 4.5-mill total [to new total of 11.0 mills] to bolster operating revenue, provide more money for capital projects and allow less reliance on the earned income tax, the township's main source of revenue. [See UPDATE]

Hiring an assistant township manager would free Manager Micah Lewis and other staff members up to do more work on long-range economic development, which could bolster revenue, Wray reasoned.

And bringing on three new police officers would lift staffing closer to where it needs to be and cut down on overtime and compensatory day costs, Wray added.

Supervisor John Mack also suggested more employees in the public works department, a move that would allow the township to repave and repair more streets and make it a more desirable place to live and do business, he said.

Another revenue enhancer was the possibility of requiring money from neighboring Newtown Borough for fire calls made there by township professional firefighters. No decision was made on the consideration.

"Our residents are paying for them to go into the borough and answer a call and we're not getting compensated," supervisors Chairman Phil Calabro said.

He added that the township could look into the possibility of entering into an agreement with Newtown Borough to provide policing services there. Newtown Township currently gets more than $500,000 a year in revenue for providing that service for neighboring Wrightstown.

"If they (Newtown Borough) paid us to patrol, they're taking an expense off their balance sheet and we're adding revenue to ours," Calabro said.

BOS Work Session via Zoom

August 17, 2020, 11 AM

Expected agenda items:

• The Newtown Township Board of Supervisors engaged Econsult Solutions, Inc. (ESI) to develop a comprehensive multi-year financial management plan, will include recommendations to improve operational efficiency and promote fiscal stability in Newtown Township.  The consultants will present a summary of the results of these surveys and give the supervisors a progress report on the multi-year financial plan.
• The Newtown Fire Association (NFA) will present details about a new fire engine the NFA plans to purchase in 2021 and how they will finance this purchase.

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BOS Regular Session (LIVE)

100 Municipal Drive, Newtown

Wednesday, August 26, 2020, 7 PM

SEATING IS LIMITED TO 20 PEOPLE (3 of which will be Toll Bros. representatives) – get there early if you want a seat!

Expected agenda item:

• Toll Bros. Twining Bridge Road Development Decision: The Newtown Township Board of Supervisors completed hearings on a conditional use application (“Application”) submitted by Toll PA XVIII, LP involving the development of land located along Route 413 (Durham Road) & Twining Bridge Road proposing the construction of 45 new single-family homes on approximately 150 acres. 

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Newtown Township supervisors established an Economic Development Committee Wednesday, as they try to find ways to deal with the loss of earned income tax (EIT; definition) funds and other revenue sources due to the coronavirus pandemic.

With community members out of work or working reduced hours, the township anticipates a more than $748,000 shortfall in its collection of the earned income tax this year, as well as another $567,000 shortfall in other income, including a $400,000 loss in revenue from its summer camps programs that cannot take place (read “Newtown Township Scraps Plan to Open Summer Camps”).

The losses have created a $1.292 million deficit in the township’s $12.16 general fund budget, even with corrective actions having been taken to reduce expenses.

Dan Connelly, director of Econsult Solutions Inc., said during a Zoom meeting Wednesday that township’s finances are changing weekly, depending on the work situations of residents and others who work in the township and pay the earned income tax. The consulting firm is evaluating the township finances and developing a five-year financial plan.

“It’s turned the projections upside down,” Connelly said.

Even before the pandemic, Newtown Township had seen a decline in its projected income from its earned income tax since Lockheed Martin closed its facility in the township five years ago.

The township also has been impacted by other townships enacting their own EITs.

At a meeting of the township’s Finance Committee Tuesday, members talked of ways to improve EIT collection and some pointed out the importance of having residents shop and dine in the township, so that local businesses will generate more income and contribute more in taxes. [Read “Newtown Township Finance Committee Discusses Ideas For Launching a Business Reopening Initiative”]

Committee members also discussed turning to the Lower Bucks Chamber of Commerce for help and to its own Newtown Business Association members who could design online promotions to help get the word out to “buy local.”

One resident pointed out that by shopping and dining in the township, residents were saving on their own tax contributions. “I’m sort of putting money back in my own pocket,” one caller said.

Connelly said he plans to have the completed financial plan report to the township by August and suggested there be a public hearing on it so that residents can comment, though that might wait until residents can meet together when social distancing guidelines are eased.