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Manor Township Prepared to Approve Tentative Budget

Township supervisors worked on the more than half-dozen different local budgets during the past three weeks and now plan to adopt a tentative budget to allow for public inspection at the beginning of November. (KP File Photo)

by Jonathan Weaver

At their November regular meeting, Manor Township supervisors are prepared to present their 2016 funding plan.

Supervisors held three budget workshops during the past three weeks to prepare the General Fund and other budgets before the end of the calendar year.

Monday morning, Supervisor Chair James McGinnis, Vice-Chair Paul Rearick and Supervisor Pat Fabian completed their process by discussing the volunteer fire department budget (since taxpayers contribute via a mill of taxes annually) and salaries to employees (including Secretary-Treasurer Jill Davis, Police Chief Mike Karabin and other part-time police officers and road workers.

All employees are slated to receive raises this coming year.

After discussions yesterday, part-time Chief Karabin and part-time police officers will receive a .75 cent raise in their hourly wage, while Road Foreman Bob Southworth and road workers will receive a .50 wage.

Chief Karabin is slated to earn $16.86 per hour, Sgt. Terry Bish $16.09 per hour and the part-time officers will earn $15.68 per hour.

“Whether you’re a full-time policeman or a part-time policeman, you can face the same dangers while you’re out there,” Rearick said.

Supervisors scheduled and budgeted for 320 coverage hours per month.

Secretary Davis, who is the only of the bunch that works full-time, will receive a $1.17 raise to earn the same amount as Southworth.

If no more changes are made, Southworth is slated to earn $19.54 per hour, his assistant $19.12 per hour and the other employees $18.87 per hour.

In addition to the hourly wage, employees receive healthcare benefits but are not under a pension plan.

“My goal at the end of the day is to continue to pay for all our employees’ healthcare without putting that on the taxpayers,” Fabian said.
Even with the raises to all employees, township supervisors are slated to spend less than $1 million after they had about $1.5 million available.

With the tentative adoption the first week of November and soon-to-be available for public inspection, supervisors could adopt their final 2016 budget at their regular meeting December 2.

Manor Township | jweaver October 20, 2015