Towanda Council passes tentative $3.2 million boro budget Budget keeps K-9 unit in operation

TOWANDA - The Towanda Borough Council on Monday passed a tentative $3.2 million borough budget for 2010 which includes no tax increase, but eliminates the curbside pickup of leaves and Christmas trees and scales back the borough's street sweeping operation and spring clean-up.

While Towanda Borough Manager Tom Fairchild Jr. had proposed eliminating the Towanda Borough Police Department's K-9 unit, the budget does include money to keep it in operation, Fairchild said.

The K-9 unit "is not going to be shut down," Towanda Borough Councilman Paul Sweitzer said at Monday's meeting. However, he said: "We are looking for additional funding (for the K-9 unit). There has to be other people kicking in some money. The dog is used a lot outside of Towanda Borough."

At a budget workshop on Dec. 3, the council had discussed whether to impose a fee on other police departments when they borrow Towanda's police dog. However, no decision has been made yet on whether to impose such a fee.

At the start of the council meeting, Second Street resident Pat Taylor and William Street resident Rhys Eastham urged the council not to eliminate the K-9 unit, which is used as a patrol dog and to detect the presence of narcotics.

"I think the proposed budget is extremely tight," Fairchild said, adding that the borough council has been working on preparing the budget for several months. "We looked at everything (for possible cuts). I think this is a budget that we can all live with and work with."

Under the tentative budget, the borough real estate tax rate would remain at 14.56 mils in 2010, which is the same as it was in 2009, Fairchild said.

The tentative budget can now be reviewed at the Towanda Municipal Building at 724 Main St.

At its year-end meeting on Dec. 28, the council is scheduled to adopt a final 2010 borough budget and set the borough real estate tax rate for 2010.

Rick Lewis, who was one of the seven council members who voted to approve the tentative budget, cautioned that by not raising the real estate tax this year, the council was starting to put itself in the same position it was in during the past decade, where it did not raise taxes for many years, but then was forced to raise taxes by 27 percent in one year alone.

"We'll be looking at a large increase" in the future if the council does not raise taxes gradually, he said.

Councilman Paul Sweitzer said he agreed with Lewis' assessment.

"We're just putting a band-aid on the situation," Sweitzer said. "Our expenses are going up. Our revenues are going down. We're cutting some services that people have liked for such small (savings). We're trying to nickel and dime ourselves. We'll pay for it later."

If the borough eliminates its fall leaf pickup, it will still continue to operate two sites where residents can drop off their bags of leaves, Fairchild said. Those drop-off sites are located on Plank Road and on Fourth Street, opposite the S.C.I. swimming pool.

Under the tentative budget, the borough's two-day spring cleanup will be reduced to one day per year, Fairchild said.

Also under the tentative budget, the borough's street sweeper, which was used 430 hours in 2009, will be used approximately 300 hours in 2010, he said.

In addition, the budget does not include funds to replace borough parking enforcement officer Mona McAlmont, who is retiring at the end of this year, Fairchild said.

Instead, borough employee Vickie Wells will spend some of her time on parking enforcement, although she will continue to primarily serve as the borough property maintenance official, Fairchild said.

The borough is looking at other ways to address parking enforcement, including possibly having the police department do some of McAlmont's job, he said.

James Loewenstein can be reached at (570) 265-1633; or email: jloewenstein@thedailyreview.com

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