Upper Tyrone residents voice opinions about tax at meeting
UPPER TYRONE TWP. – Over two dozen concerned township residents attended Tuesday’s supervisors meeting to express their opinion on a proposed $25 tax to help support the Everson Volunteer Fire Company. Everson Mayor Tim Shoemaker said the emergency services tax would help keep the fire company viable. He additionally said that like most small communities across the state and the nation, Everson Volunteer Fire Company has seen federal and state funds dry up.
“We are not asking for a lot,” said Shoemaker. “A lot of boroughs and townships across the state have created a similar tax that could be as high as $52.”
Everson Fire Chief Chuck Leighty said the fire company hopes to collect between $35,000 and $50,000 annually if the tax is enacted on households by both the borough and the township.
Shoemaker said he expects Everson Borough Council to pass the tax at the Sept. 19 meeting.
However, township supervisor chairman Sam Killinger said he doesn’t want to pass the $25 tax burden onto senior citizens on fixed incomes.
“We will match Everson Borough dollar for dollar, but I don’t want to put this tax onto the residents,” said Killinger. “Instead of charging the residents, we will pay the money from the township fund.”
Killinger said the fire company will get the same amount of money and Shoemaker said he didn’t have a problem with it. But a meeting held last Saturday showed that at least 50 concerned residents from the township and the borough unanimously supported the tax increase.
Shoemaker said the tax comes out to about 7 cents a day, and Owensdale resident Kimberly King gave an overview of money given each year by the township to the fire company.
Supervisor Charles Cook said the township budgeted $23,906 last year for fire protection and said $3,223 of that money went to Scottdale Volunteer Fire Department, while $6,447 was given to Everson.
An addition $11,800 went to insurance companies for Everson, according to Cook. King pointed out that some of that money is mandatory for workers compensation. She said the insurance money did not directly fund the fire company but simply passed through the township.
Leighty said although the fire company recently received a $250,000 Homeland Security grant for a new truck, they will still be saddled with an additional $50,000 payment for the new truck.
“We have one engine that is 30 years old and another that is 15 years old,” said Leighty. “Our mini-pumper is 12 years old and our squad truck is nine years old. Our equipment is aging quickly and we need some help replacing it.”
Leighty said the company hopes to replace the 30-year engine with a new $300,000 truck that they would like to order by the end of the month. When Killinger asked what else the township could do to help the fire company, Leighty said the supervisors could purchase some new hose for the new truck.
King said she thought that the $25 tax was a small price to pay for fire protection and several members of the crowd agreed with her.
Killinger agreed to meet with the fire company and Everson Borough representatives to come up with a solution to the problem. He said he understands the firefighters plight and agreed that something has to be done to keep the township safe.
In other matters the supervisors agreed to advertise for a part-time police officer. Killinger said the supervisors received a proposal from Scottdale Police last month to provide police protection but the cost was over $200,000.
“They told us it would be a lot cheaper to buy a police car and hire a police officer,” said Killinger. “We simply don’t have the money to hire our own police department.”
The supervisors also agreed to purchase two computers, one for secretary Louise Koza and one to be used for the Internet.