Monday, December 5, 2011
The borough council plans to adopt its 2012 spending plan on Dec. 19 and more cuts could be made before then, officials said.
What started out as a $351,000 gap has since been reduced to a $195,000 shortfall as the Hatboro governing body seeks other options to balance its 2012 budget. And officials, on Monday after introducing an ordinance that would raise taxes $52 per every $100,000 of assessed property, said those options are, essentially, making additional cuts to the roughly $4 million spending plan. "Right now everything's on the table," Councilman Vincent LaSorsa said afterward, noting that the council is not looking at any one area in particular. To date, cuts have been made to the borough's streep sweeping, night-time lights on York Road and the elimination of the D.A.R.E. program taught in Hatboro-Horsham School District. Borough Manager Steven Plaugher…
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Parks department, library services on the chopping block.
Montgomery County residents may yet avoid a tax increase for 2012, but only at the cost of massive reductions or eliminations of iconic county services and amenities. A $384.8 million preliminary operating budget for 2012 would eliminate the county’s parks department and planning commission while slashing or ending appropriations to the county library system, the Elmwood Park Zoo, Montgomery County Community College, and other institutions. The budget, which was approved for advertisement Wednesday by the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners, “would change county government as we know it,” according to James Maza, the county’s deputy chief operating officer. Average tax increase of $130 per homeowner would cover budget shortfall If …
The governing body intends to maintain the current 1 mill tax rate.
Figuring in additional expenses related to a new contract for the Horsham Township Police is the last hurdle to finalizing the municipality’s roughly $13.5 million spending plan, an official said. The police department’s contract expired in December 2010 and officials, unable to come to a resolution, sought out arbitration. A hearing was held in June and Horsham Township Manager Bill Walker said the township is waiting on a written decision, which will be binding. “It can take some time. Upper Moreland had a hearing in February and a got a decision on Nov. 14,” Walker said. “I’m hoping we get it before we have to approve the budget in case we have to make adjustments.” The township council is slated to consider adoption of the budget – …
Monday, November 7, 2011
Township Council promises to hold the line on taxes, which were last increased in 2002.
No new municipal taxes. That’s the promise Horsham officials are making as they put the finishing touches on the projected $13.4 million 2012 township budget. If the spending plan is adopted as outlined during Monday night’s township council meeting – on the eve of the election - the governing body will keep the current 1 mill tax rate consistent in 2012, meaning the owner of a home assessed at the township average of $178,128 would pay $178.13 in real estate taxes. Council President Mark McCouch, one of two councilmen up for re-election, pointed out that, in addition to holding the line on taxes, next year’s budget maintains the same level of township services. He told Patch afterward that the governing body’s “spaving” abilities – …
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Montgomery County Commissioner James Matthews said higher taxes are needed or county services will suffer.
Though not exactly on the agenda for the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners' meeting Wednesday, an impromptu discussion of the county's current budget situation arose, as did the possibility of a tax hike. The county's current budget status was raised by Commissioner Joe Hoeffel, who took the opportunity to chide fellow Commissioner Bruce Castor for his comments during his campaign about the county's perceived budget woes. "I'm disappointed in the public comments and the lack of public understanding with the county's [current] financial situation," said Hoeffel. He suggested that the commissioners had neglected to answer allegations about the county's poor fiscal outlook raised in the media during the current election because they …
Monday, June 13, 2011
The issue of collecting fees from companies that drill in the state was the reason for a breakfast meeting in Hatboro.
State government representatives and advocates for a Marcellus Shale drilling tax hosted a breakfast meeting Monday at Lehman United Methodist Church in Hatboro. The meeting was one of four state-wide, hosted by Citizens for Pennsylvania's Future (PennFuture), to discuss the impacts of Marcellus Shale drilling and why they believe drillers should be levied with higher taxes. Marcellus Shale is a type of rock that runs under the state and contains large pockets of untapped natural gas. In Pennsylvania, politicians and environmentalists alike have debated whether or not drillers should pay more in taxes. “They need to play by the rules and pay their fair share,” said Jan Jarrett, president and CEO of PennFuture. The message shared by …
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Lehman Memorial United Methodist Church
300 S York Rd, Hatboro, PA
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Wednesday, April 13, 2011
D.C. holiday on April 15 pushes Tax Day to April 18.
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Wednesday, April 13, 2011
For everyone worrying about getting their taxes done by April 15, there’s no need to rush. In January, the Internal Revenue Service announced that taxpayers have until April 18 to file their tax returns. According to an IRS release, taxpayers in Bucks and Montgomery counties as well as those nationwide have until Monday, April 18 to file their 2010 tax returns and pay any tax due because Emancipation Day, a holiday observed in the District of Columbia, falls this year on Friday, April 15. By law, District of Columbia holidays impact tax deadlines in the same way that federal holidays do; therefore, all taxpayers will have three extra days to file this year. Taxpayers requesting an extension will have until Oct. 17 to file their 2010 tax …
Toni Kistner
6:32 pm on Tuesday, December 6, 2011
I agree with John Farnen - it would be a real shame to lose Stephen Barth as Main Street manager. He has a genuine desire to help Hatboro succeed, and has done a lot in this past year to bring in businesses. more ›