Go to The Daily Review mobile
Wysox Township increases property tax by 1.5 mils
Published: December 16, 2009
Font size: [A] [A] [A]
e-mail this
share this
WYSOX TOWNSHIP - The Wysox Township supervisors on Tuesday adopted a final township budget for 2010 that includes an increase of 1.5 mils in the township property tax.
"We don't have much of a choice" on whether to raise taxes, Bill Shoemaker, chairman of the Wysox Township supervisors, said at the supervisors' meeting on Tuesday. "Our labor costs have gone up. Our insurance has gone up."
The increase will raise the Wysox Township property tax, which until now has been 1.5 mils, to 3 mils, Shoemaker said.
In addition to the township property tax, the township imposes a .25-mil fire tax on real estate.
Shoemaker said the township property tax has not been raised for 8 or 9 years.
Even with the tax increase, the township still has the lowest property tax in the county, except for West Burlington Township, Shoemaker said.
Township Secretary/Treasurer Jim Ward said the township will likely lose revenue from the earned income tax, because "we're losing a major retail outlet."
Penn Traffic "will probably proceed (with) its bankruptcy and close the P&C store (in Wysox Township) by Jan. 15," where 70 employees have been paying earned income tax to the township, Ward said.
Shoemaker said the wages paid to township employees are not high enough, and the township is planning to raise the wages of a number of township employees at its January meeting.
"We've lost one good person" because township wages were not high enough "and we're about to lose another one if we're not really careful," Shoemaker said.
All three township supervisors voted to adopt the township budget with the tax increase.
As a result of the tax increase, the owner of house assessed at $25,000 will see his/her annual township property tax bill increase by $37.50. In Bradford County, property is assessed at 50 percent of its market value.
James Loewenstein can be reached at (570) 265-1633; or e-mail: jloewenstein@thedailyreview.com.
Be the first to comment on this article!