For the first time in more than half a century, Unity officials are proposing to increase the township real estate tax by doubling it to 4.4 mills.
The township supervisors will hold a special meeting at 9 a.m. Wednesday to vote on the tax hike and the tentative 2026 budget of about $9.2 million it will help support.
They’ll also consider raising a separate tax that helps local fire departments — from 2 mills to 3 mills.
Longtime Supervisor Mike O’Barto said the suggested 2.2-mill property tax increase would generate an additional $600,000 in revenue, helping the township catch up with rising costs.
“Ever since (the covid-19 pandemic) came in in 2020, the price of doing municipal business has gone up,” O’Barto said. He cited higher costs for asphalt, salt, public works pipes and various equipment.
“Some of the prices have skyrocketed,” he said.
Unity has been successful in obtaining grant funding for some major capital works projects, O’Barto said, but the township still must shoulder part of the cost.
He said Unity will receive federal Community Development Block Grant funding for a major paving project in the village of Hostetter. But the township will be responsible for related engineering costs, which the tax hike could help to cover, he said.
According to O’Barto, the owner of an average property in the township, assessed at $25,000, would see their annual tax bill increase by about $50 following the proposed millage hike.
“This is not an easy decision to make,” he said.
But, he added, “Unity Township has one of the lowest tax rates in Westmoreland County. We also offer a senior property tax rebate, which we’ve been doing for 13 years.”
O’Barto said the proposed fire tax hike would generate an additional $300,000 annually for the Unity Township Bureau of Fire — which encompasses seven local fire departments, transitioning to six with the merger of the Marguerite and Dryridge stations.
He said that extra revenue would help to continue a program that began in July 2024 — staffing paid two-person duty crews of firefighters to remain ready to respond from participating stations on weekdays.
“The duty crew has worked out quite well,” he said. “If they could save just one life, it’s well worth it.”
So far, the duty crew program has been funded by drawing upon the fire bureau’s capital fund, according to Brian Schultheis, president of the bureau and chief of the Lloydsville Fire Department.
Extra money from the fire tax could be used to expand that program while helping to keep local fire equipment in good shape, he said.
“We want to keep the program,” Schultheis said. “We’ve had nothing but good results — good feedback from citizens and really good response times.
“Our ladder truck in the township is 23 years old,” he said. “It’s going to need to be replaced or refurbished, but we can’t do either when we’re pulling money from the capital equipment fund to pay for the duty crews.”
Usually, two of the two-man crews are scheduled each weekday, with staggered shifts of 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. and 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. — when most volunteer firefighters are at their workplaces. Duty crews also may be scheduled on weekends when special community events are happening.
Schultheis said the bureau is looking into expanding duty crew hours.
“We want to try covering a few more weekends,” he said, “especially in the summertime — when (firefighters) are not around, with vacations.”
Some overnight shifts also are being contemplated, as well as the potential hiring of a paid administrator for the program.
The local fire departments also could use more revenue to help with equipment, operating and training costs.
Schultheis said fuel and equipment maintenance costs have increased for the three fire departments where duty crews have been stationed — Lloydsville, Crabtree and Youngstown-Whitney.
“Our fuel bills have more than doubled,” he said.
Schultheis said the existing 2-mill fire tax provides about $45,000 to each of the bureau’s departments, compared to the typical annual cost of $145,000 “just to keep the doors open. The departments have to raise the rest.”