Township Must 'Get Back to Reality,' Reinstate Property Tax, Manager Says

Lower Macungie Township residents could be making a property tax payment to the township for the first time in 11 years if the proposed 2014 township budget is approved at the Dec. 5 meeting of the board of commissioners.

If put into effect, that $18.5 million spending plan would set the property tax rate at .33 mills, which would translate to a $100 payment for properties assessed at $300,000. The money collected, which would amount to about $1 million, would be used for capital projects.

Township manager Bruce Fosselman recapped the budgeting process at the board's Nov. 7 meeting, asking the commissioners to vote to advertise the budget for final adoption on Dec. 5.

"We don’t like to see a tax if we can avoid it," Fosselman said, "but it's time to get back to reality here. We've done the best job we can."

But there is at least one commissioner who feels the preliminary budget is far from the township's best effort -- even after an early fall budget presentation by Fosselman to the board, followed by three public hearings on the budget.

Commissioner Roger Reis voted against advertising the budget, since he says he just can't support the tax.

"I'm just not convinced this is the right way to go," Reis said. "I'm not being pigheaded about it. I think there's more we could have done."

The commissioners voted 3-1 to advertise the budget, with Commissioners Ron Eichenberg, Doug Brown and Jim Lancsek casting affirmative votes. Ryan Conrad was not at the meeting.