Dec 24, 2003 By Angie Santello 3 min read

MASONTOWN – While the tax rate will remain the same at .926 mills for borough residents, their monthly water bill will not. The borough council voted Tuesday for a $1.25 increase in the minimum monthly water bill as a way to trim a $124,500 deficit in the 2004 budget. The increase will go into effect Jan. 1 and will raise the minimum monthly water bill to $30. Coupled with the monthly sewage bills, residents will pay a total of $47 per month.

Councilman Charles Popovich and Councilwoman Carole Daniels voted against the water bill increase.

Daniels said Masontown senior citizens, people on low incomes and pensioners will not be able to afford the added costs.

“There’s senior citizens in this town who can’t even afford a $10 water bill, but they have to pay it,” said Daniels.

Council members T.J. Salonick and Frank McLaughlin were absent.

With the help of the water rate increase, the council passed a tentative $300,000 five-year contract with 10 borough workers represented by Teamsters Local 491. Council President Joe Volansky said the water bill will help pay for the first year of the contract.

Council members Daniels, Harry Lee and Thomas Loukota voted in favor of the contract, while Volansky and Popovich abstained. The contract with the borough’s six police department employees will be up next for review.

The balanced 2004 budget totals about $2 million, with the general fund balanced at $759,500, the sewage fund balanced at $547,000 and the water fund balanced at $754,300. Lee, Loukota and Volansky voted in favor of the budget, while Daniels voted no and Popovich abstained.

Also, under the budget, the council granted the German-Masontown Public Library’s request for financial support.

Concerning property taxes, at the current rate borough residents will pay $9.26 for every $10,000 in assessed property value, the same amount paid last year.

At prior meetings, the council maintained the budgetary shortfall was the result of revenue lost from the state and the Duke Energy power plant, due in part to the completion of the plant.

“We have lost some income,” Loukota said at a previous meeting. “We lost money from the state. We lost funding from Duke Energy. In the 2003 budget we sold them water and other stuff when they were under construction.”

The council noted that the plant now pays only a monthly user fee for water, a large decrease in revenue compared to last year.

In other business, the council passed a payroll analysis for Dec. 20. Loukota voted no, questioning the excessive amount of overtime pay borough police officers received.

“There’s always excessive overtime, and I would like this to be reviewed by council to find a better way,” said Loukota. “We should have a say-so in the scheduling process itself.”

Volansky also voted no to passing the analysis.

“If it takes us changing the payroll dates then it is as simple as that,” he said.

The council also conducted the following business:

– Voted to obtain Act 30 insurance for police officers killed in the line of duty, with the premium coming out of the pension fund.

– Said the government raised the terror level to orange, sparking extra precautions to be taken at the borough’s water and sewage treatment plants.

– Announced that sample water test results from the borough’s water plant will be submitted to the state Department of Environmental Protection via the Internet.

– Announced water shut-offs are scheduled for Jan. 5 for anyone delinquent on their water and sewage bills.

– Scheduled the reorganization meeting for Monday, Jan. 5, at 7 p.m. and the next regular meeting for Tuesday, Jan. 13, at 6:30 p.m.