Lower Makefield Township Manager Kurt Ferguson is resigning from that position after four years.

Reached on Monday [April 11, 2022], Ferguson said he has accepted a manager’s job in another town but said he didn’t want to talk about where or other specifics for another week or so.

“I’m accepting a job in another town and this all revolves around this other opportunity I could not pass up,” Ferguson said. “I have nothing disparaging to say about Lower Makefield. It’s all about this other opportunity.”

Ferguson became Lower Makefield’s manager in May of 2018 after six years in the same position in neighboring Newtown Township.

At a meeting in late December, the Lower Makefield supervisors voted to bump up Ferguson’s scheduled salary increase for 2022 from 3 percent to 5 percent, with supervisors’ Chairman James McCartney, Suzanne Blundi and Fredric Weiss voting in favor of that motion and Daniel Grenier and John Lewis voting no. The move increased Ferguson’s annual salary by $8,409, from $168,178 to $176,587.

The supervisors were able to pass a 2022 budget with a half-mill property tax decrease while still approving a road repaving program for this year of more than $3 million and creating four new full-time positions Ferguson has said will make several township operations more efficient.

The board will begin the process of replacing Ferguson in the coming months.

In a unanimous vote, the board of supervisors on Wednesday night approved the appointment of Kurt Ferguson as its next township manager.

Ferguson, who has managed Newtown Township since 2012, will replace retiring manager Terry Fedorchak who has led the township’s administration for the past quarter of a century.

Ferguson, the supervisors’ top choice out of a field of 35 candidates, competed in an extremely vigorous selection process conducted by Jersey Professional Management. He will begin his new duties on July 16 under a two year contract with the township.

“After a comprehensive search, we are pleased that Kurt is joining the township as our next manager,” said Chairman John Lewis. “Kurt has a proven track record of leadership,” he said, adding that board members were “impressed with his demonstrated financial and operations management expertise.”

Ferguson began a career in municipal government in 1998 as an Economic Development Officer for Mt. Lebanon in Western Pennsylvania. He went on to serve as manager for the Borough of Edgewood and Hempfield Township, also in Western Pennsylvania, before taking his current job as manager of Newtown Township.

“I am honored and humbled to have been selected as the next township manager for Lower Makefield,” said Ferguson. “I am grateful to the board of supervisors and thank them for the confidence they have in me. It is truly a privilege to follow Terry Fedorchak, the longest tenured manager in Bucks County, and look forward to working with the supervisors, staff, businesses and residents.”

Before coming to Bucks County, Ferguson was the manager of Hempfield Township in Westmoreland County.

The population of Hempfield Township was 43,241 at the 2010 census, making it the largest suburb in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area by population. It’s motto: “A Great Place to Raise a Family.”

During his three years in the manager’s role in Hempfield Township, Ferguson professionalized the services they provided and utlized his financial management skills ”putting expenditures on a predictable path.”

In a related motion at the May 16 supervisors meeting, the board unanimously approved an amendment to the township manager ordinance allowing the manager to live within a 20 to 25 mile radius of the township building. Under the current ordinance, the manager is required to live in the township. Ferguson currently lives about 20 miles from the township, according to solicitor Dave Truelove.