Local government officials in East Rockhill have introduced a proposed 2020 municipal budget that carries no increase in the township’s real estate property tax rate, sewer rate or streetlight assessment.
Proposed receipts and expenditures balance at a proposed total of nearly $4.1 million. Expenditures in the general fund are projected to reach about $2 million – nearly flat with the prior year.
The general fund pays for services like police protection, public works personnel, engineering, planning/zoning, building code enforcement, administration and more.
Meanwhile, fire protection fund expenses are estimated to be $118,600, down from $123,400 this year, according to township budget documents. A fund that focuses on open space preservation has 2020 expenses earmarked at $460,000, up from $443,000 in 2019, documents indicate.
For 2019, the East Rockhill Board of Supervisors increased local property taxes about 20 percent – from a millage rate of 10.235 in 2018 to 12.235 this year. Another increase is not in the cards for 2020, however, with the rate proposed to remain 12.235.
Under the proposed 2020 budget, an East Rockhill property assessed at the township average of $40,000 will pay nearly $490 in municipal real estate taxes. School district and county taxes comprise a larger portion of a property tax bill.
The East Rockhill Board of Supervisors previously hadn’t increased taxes since 2015. The board did so in 2019 because additional cash flow was needed to fund a legal battle with Rock Hill Quarry, which is in the township on North Rockhill Road. Those battles continue, with the township budgeting $150,000 for legal expenses related to the quarry in 2020. Still, the projected expense has not warranted an additional tax increase.
The locally elected, three-person East Rockhill Board of Supervisors has final say on whether or not the proposed 2020 municipal budget will be set in place. Supervisors planned to receive public comment on the budget and then vote to approve or deny it at their 7 p.m. meeting Dec. 19 at the municipal building at 1622 North Ridge Road, Perkasie.
