Leet property owners may see their township real estate tax bills jump by 18% as part of next year’s budget.
Township commissioners unanimously voted Nov. 11 to advertise the proposed 2025 spending plan with a 1.4-mill tax hike.
The current tax rate is 7.7 mills. The rate would go up to 9.1 mills should the budget be adopted as-is. Budgeted revenues and expenses were listed at about $2.212 million.
Formal budget adoption is slated for Dec. 9.
The township’s median property value was listed at $247,600. That owner would see their local real estate tax bill go from $1,906 to $2,253, a $347 jump.
It has been at least five years since the last Leet Township tax hike.
Projected income includes more than $1 million in real estate taxes, $406,550 in Act 511 taxes, including earned income/wage taxes; $375,245 in intergovernmental monies, $43,345 in licenses and permits, $18,000 in charges for services, $11,500 in interest, rents and royalties and $9,600 in fines and forfeits.
Projected spending includes $801,856 for police, $506,800 for public works, $380,000 for general government, including administrative and commissioners’ salaries, legal services, insurance and accounting; $193,000 for parks and recreation, $100,100 for fire protection, $14,500 for code enforcement and $7,500 for planning and zoning.
Commission president Martin McDaniel said the tax hike is due to several measures benefiting township police, including restoring family health care plans.
“There are some serious things we have to deal with,” he said. “We’re having difficulty recruiting and retaining police officers. Part-time police officers, which were relied on by Leet and many other communities, are a thing of the past. Our whole culture has changed where there’s a lot of people getting out of police work.”
Health care is projected to go up from $38,777 to $89,139, a more than $50,000 jump.
Total police wage projections were also increasing.
Martin said the township budgeted $265,000 this year and $357,000 for 2025, an estimated $92,000 jump.
Pensions were also projected to go up from $77,000 to $124,000, an estimated $47,000 jump.
“Public safety is paramount,” Martin said.
The township has six full-time officers, including Chief Brian Jameson.
The department welcomed Officer James Lema back full-time in August. He was hired part-time by Leet in March 2020 and became full-time in June of that year.
He went back to part-time earlier this year after taking a job in Brighton Township.
Jameson last month said Lema was an outstanding officer and was happy to have him back with more availability.
McDaniel said officials went over the budget thoroughly before advertising it and look forward to residents’ feedback.
“I don’t know what else to cut,” he said. “It’s not a fat budget, really. We’ve got to pay the light bill. We’ve got to pay the insurance. We’ve got to pay the cleaning bill. We’ve got to pay the water bill and payroll. We don’t have a big staff. That’s what our budget’s about. It will be on public display. People can come here.”
Commissioner Donna Adipietro said a lot of time, patience and effort went into crafting the budget, and the township has been able to get a lot done through grants.
Commission vice president Dan Peluso, Rody Nash and Martin Zimmel declined to comment on the budget.
Jameson said Martin’s police spending highlights show the commissioners are serious about public safety.
“I think this board showed a commitment to the police department and to the public safety of this town,” the chief said. “The insurance adds to the retention of officers. The addition of the sixth officer gives us the ability to do extra things (such as) run traffic (detail), cover open shifts, cover vacations without causing overtime.”
Commissioners discussed adding code enforcement duties to the police department.
Township manager Betsy Rengers has handled those responsibilities for at least the past six years.
Rengers said she sent out about 100 letters and had five or six court cases involving code violations this year.
Jameson declined to comment on the potential change.
Commissioners took no action on the matter on Nov. 11.