WHITEHALL — In its ongoing efforts to put Whitehall Township in a better financial situation, the township board unanimously approved a multi-pronged cost reduction plan during its regular meeting Monday.
The plan will cut nearly $32,000 from township expenses, which Supervisor Dennis Kroll said is about a third of annual property tax revenue. The move comes after the board approved two millage requests last month to be placed on the ballot for this year, one to focus on road repair and the other due to the township's decreasing fund balance.
The biggest piece of the reduction plan is the end of the township's pension plan, which will save $17,000. Kroll said he was unaware of the pension plan when he first joined the board and thought it would be a sensible thing to cut because, in his view, working for the township should not be considered "a career position."
"We are here to serve, not be served," Kroll said.
Also in the reduction plan are the elimination of the zoning enforcement officer position, a reduction in operating hours at the township's brush and leaf station (normally open Wednesdays and Saturdays, the station will now remain closed Wednesdays from July through October), a one-hour daily reduction in operating hours at the township office (the office will now open at 10 a.m. instead of 9 Monday-Thursday), and a voluntary salary reduction of $3,000 each being taken by both Kroll and Treasurer Rhonda Boyd.
Regarding the salary reductions, the positions and salaries will continue to be budgeted at their current levels for whenever the positions next change hands; Kroll and Boyd will simply take less money for the job. Trustee Chuck Schmitigal suggested the township could later institute a pay ceiling, noting salaries had long ago been set to increase according to a government index but that the increases have gotten "out of hand" over the years, and Kroll agreed that would be a good idea to consider for future budgets.
Upon approval, Kroll said the board should be proud for taking these steps to improve the financial standing of the township. The township has had to dip into its reserves for about $100,000 each of the past three years to balance the budget, he noted, and the fund balance now sits at about $800,000, a trend he considered unsustainable.
The board offered unanimous approval to a slight increase in this year's sewer rates, from $133 to $137 per unit. The board discussed that last year's rate increase was originally supposed to go to $137 directly from $126, but at the time it was decided to phase in that change over two years.
The board also approved small expenditures to add speed limit signs on Wiczer Road and on Whitehall Road. The two Wiczer signs will remind drivers the speed limit is 25 miles per hour, and they will cost $579 in total. The move is being made because Wiczer has seen increased traffic due to the overpass closure on US-31, which Kroll joked has made Wiczer "expressway east."
The signs on Whitehall Road will both be placed on the northbound side - one near the intersection with Benston Road and the other near the Alice Street intersection - and remind drivers of the 55-mile-per-hour limit. This is being done because of the current lack of speed limit signs in that section of the road. Those signs will be paid for out of the existing road budget.
The board also unanimously approved the purchase of two new computers, one for the treasurer's office and one for the supervisor's, at a total cost of $3,129. Both offices' existing computers are currently working with the old Windows 10 system, which requires an upgrade to continue receiving support from Microsoft.
The board received a public comment from a resident concerned with the excessive junk in the township, particularly junk cars. Kroll said he shared the resident's concerns, though due to attorneys' reticence to take "municipal infractions" to court, the issues have been difficult to address. He said the board would be looking into the possibility of an ordinance change that would make these sorts of issues civil infractions and enable the township to enforce them more effectively.
