The tax rate will remain steady and "on target," as Supervisors like to joke at 3.9 mills. This means a person in a home assessed at $100,000 can expect to pay $195 in taxes.
The township is debt free, too. Its Community Center and all other debts have been paid off and ahead of schedule. Its fire tax will pay for fire apparatus through the year 2034. It will soon take delivery of a $1.2 million fire truck, for which it will pay cash.
"There will be a point when we have to raise taxes," noted manager Jay Finnigan. But that won't be this year. He explained his fiscal policy in one short sentence."Never burden taxpayers by paying tomorrow what you can pay today."
That would be the biggest difference between Hanover Township and municipalities like Bethlehem and Bethlehem Township. They borrow to pay current operating costs, and that creates a structural imbalance that can only be fixed by more borrowing or a tax hike.
Another major difference is in how employees are paid. Raises are "merit based," stated Finnigan, and can be anywhere from 0 to 4 per cent in a given year. Bethlehem and Bethlehem Township tend to give across-the-board wage hikes to nonunion employees.
Another thing that Hanover does right is to rely on local businesses and the community for improvements. Public Works Director Vince Milite announced that nine dog waste stations have been installed at parks in the Township, where dogs are now permitted. Much of the cost of these stations was covered by local businesses like FreshPet, which specializes in fresh and natural dog and cat food.
Director of Administration and Treasurer Ryan Kish also informed Supervisors that the Township intends to transfer most of its deposits, valued at about $15 million, from National Penn to Embassy Bank. National Penn, which recently merged with megabank BB and T, was at one time headquartered in Hanover Township. It moved into Allentown's Neighborhood Improvement Zone (NIZ). Despite having lower operating costs, it is unable to compete with the rates offered by Embassy, which is headquartered in Hanover Township.
Schonersville Road is between Hanover Lehigh County and Northampton County are a no-man zone. Neither twp. seem to want to take responsibility for it. they should have better signage and lighting for pedestrians.
ReplyDeleteNeither Twp. wants to upset the no tax Apple cart as most Republican Twp.'s are known to do.
pedestrian walk lights were just installed at macada and schoenrsville as well as 5 points near walgreens/westgatemall
ReplyDeleteI applaud the move of the money to a bank that is headquartered in the township. They all gave my vote, forever!
ReplyDeleteHave my vot. ***edit
ReplyDeleteHey booby d, when you wake up from your nap maybe you could go over to the township and ask Jay for some tips on management and leadership. 8 years no tax increase!!!!!
ReplyDelete2 years 2 tax increases!!!!!!
By the way, how many full time jobs did you and the wannabe dc&ed create this week?
I'm sure there are issues in every municipality, but Hanover seems to have its act together in comparison with Bethlehem Township. There roads certainly seem safer and better to live around. They must have radar speed signs on Jacksonville Road nearly every half mile. Bethlehem Township doesn't have a single radar sign in the entire township. This is crazy considering how bad the roads have become, and the fact that there isn't speed enforcement by police after 5 p.m. in Bethlehem Township! Also, does Hanover have similar issues with water drainage that Bethlehem Township have allowed to develop over the years?
ReplyDeleteBethlehem and Bethlehem Township should look at Hanover and mimic the good things they are doing and accept them as best practices, similar to how things are done in business. Merit-based raises are a great idea! Every municipality has different needs, I'm sure, but the success in Hanover can't be overlooked. The grass is always greener on the other side, but how do you argue for a 37 percent tax hike when your neighboring municipality has had no increases for the past eight years?
Call your state legislator. Schoenersville Road is a State Road (PADOT.) There are signalized cross walks near Wawa but were not used Friday night, unfortunately.
ReplyDelete@8:53,
ReplyDeleteRadar signs do nothing to enforce safe driving. They cannot be used for speed enforcement. Many municipalities have gotten rid of them because they become a target for those who want to see how fast they can go. Can you prove that there is no speed enforcement after 5PM in BT?
Using percentages to describe tax hikes is nothing more than sensationalism. If Hanover was to raise their taxes by 1 mill, it would be 33%. The main reason taxes haven't risen, is that residential development is still rather strong. In BT, development is nearly maxed out.
Hanover is less than half the size of BT, and has 40% of the population of BT. With a larger area comes higher operating costs. They are in no way alike.
I don't see how you can compare a Township to a City. Most cities need a paid fire department. If Hanover Township had one they would have had to raise taxes within the last 8 years. Cities by necessity need to have significantly more resources allocated for public safety. While most townships and boroughs deal with some level of poverty it is more heavily concentrated in cities which requires more resources. Townships and boroughs generally don't have large nonprofits taking up land such as hospitals, colleges, or county seats. Lastly, townships and boroughs will begin to experience the same financial woes of cities when they run out of farmland to develop and their tax base becomes stagnant.
ReplyDeleteIts refreshing to see a competent and well run municipality. They have a lot of advantages, but there may not be a municipality around here that delivers a high quality services for such a modest tax rate, must be a great place to live. I'm not sure who gets to decide the merit based salary increments, that might be more trouble than its worth for morale in the offices, I'd be interested to hear the employees take on this policy.
ReplyDeleteOT, but couldn't help but notice that Mayor Panto now has the money to purchase a new police station while commuters still pay that onerous tax. BTW will Pektor be paying prevailing wages on that project??
ReplyDeleteSince a large number of Hanover Twp. residence are employees of the city of Bethlehm, their wage tax goes to the municipalty in which they live not work. This will help their Twsp. with revenue andhold bck their taxe.
ReplyDeleteHanover Twp. is like Lower Macungie except with only expensive houses. It is upper crust. How can you compare them to other places. They provide nothing so their costs are nothing. A monkey could manage those types of twp.'s.
ReplyDeletePeople need to remember that Bethlehem city will be fine. Soon Jim Gregory will be back and rebuilding his political dynasty. His days of suffering for his cause are coming to an end.
ReplyDeleteHe will no doubt be running for Mayor in 2017 and bring Bethlehem into the Golden Age it deserves. Soon the countdown will begin. The Unity-Pac is awaiting his rectum. Soon you can all rally to his cause of Fraternal love and fellowship.
"Hanover Twp. is like Lower Macungie except with only expensive houses. It is upper crust. How can you compare them to other places. They provide nothing so their costs are nothing. A monkey could manage those types of twp.'s."
ReplyDeleteI disagree. If you look into this you will see that Hanover provides a full police force, recreation and public works etc.. As 2:27 above notes, Hanover does have some unique advantages, but in this day and age, residents there can be proud of the level of services, the low taxes and the pride the staff and elected officials take in the municipality.
"@8:53,
ReplyDeleteHanover is less than half the size of BT, and has 40% of the population of BT. With a larger area comes higher operating costs. They are in no way alike."
This is the lamest excuse I've ever heard. They are alike, size is proportional to the budget and Hanover has always operated by paying current operations and NO borrowing to cover current operations. Look at the budgets on-line.
1:59, Though townships do not have their own departments and rely on volunteers, they do fund fire equipment. Hanover has the cash available and set aside for a $1.1 MM fire truck. Its fire tax is adequate for fire apparatus for the next 20 years. This is a result of paying as you go, setting aside money and not budgeting for what you expect to receive via grant. The City, in particular, has a habit of creating structural deficits by borrowing to bpay operational expenses. Take a cue from a township that does it right. Also, I love the "wait 'till they run out of land" argument. In case you haven't noticed, residential development has been nonexistent since the Great Recession. In many ways, we are still in a recession. Hanover hasn't missed a beat.
ReplyDelete@3:50 AM---love all the people / fools who continue to make excuses as to why a local govt does not have to raise taxes. as far as I know, that's a good thing.
ReplyDeletethey claim it is the size of the town, the size of the houses, and anything else they can come up with. who cares how they did it. they got results and the elected officials kept their promises. this group of elected officials should be applauded for their efforts to balance their books. instead we get idiots making excuses as to why they were successful? it is all about results. I could care less which party is running the show in my town. as long as they stay with in their budget , spend only what is needed, keep their promises , and make tough cuts when needed.
Allentown under investigation and Bethlehem soon to be under investigation, palmer twsp gop headquarters raided by the state, beth twsp looking at a 30% plus tax hike, , but Hanover TWSP sucks? jealous pos....
Well done Hanover. You might want to train the surrounding communities on how to balance the budget and spend what you have and bank the rest to be used as needed.
"The Unity-Pac is awaiting his rectum."
ReplyDeleteHis post prison rectum may be a disappointment.
Bernie, Bernie. It is the season of giving. Please, oh please Sir, give us a heapi8ing dose of the Mediterranean manslab latest update. Please use that awesome picture of him with the shoe. That is the greatest spooky picture ever.
OT, but couldn't help but notice that Mayor Panto now has the money to purchase a new police station while commuters still pay that onerous tax. BTW will Pektor be paying prevailing wages on that project??
ReplyDeleteI read that the city has announced that yes prevailing wages are included in the presentation and the commuter tax is allowed by state law to pay for legacy costs on pensions only. Maybe the state should get its act together and give all municipalities the pension reform that is truly needed. I've been reading of more and more Boroughs and Townships in the same position as cities. As I understand it the local officials are only asking for pension changes to new employees not existing employees. That seems to be a no brainer to me.