Pine presents revenue analysis, projects decrease of $400,000 for 2026

Pine ssupervisors began their Sept. 15 meeting with a 2026 capital projects discussion.

“I think it’s always relevant coming into the capital projects discussion to talk quickly about our revenue. We do a revenue analysis every year before we do the budget, and Ronata’s just going to run us through our revenue projections for 2026 at this point,” township Manager Jason Kratsas said.

This year’s revenue analysis projections reveal an estimated overall decrease of about $400,000 in revenue for next year.

Ronata Lavorini, Pine’s director of finance, explained the reasons for the projected decrease.

“Interest and rate of returns are expected to decrease by $205,000 due to dropping rates from 2025. Deed transfer tax usually reacts inversely to that, but we’re still seeing a downward trend even coming into the end of this year. We’re anticipating that next year might be the bottoming out for deed transfer tax before it starts increasing again,” Lavorini said.

Given the ongoing downward trend, the township is proposing a reduction of $100,000 in 2026 from 2025.

Real estate tax, although historically reaching budget expectations, also is expected to decline in 2026 by about $69,000.

“Common level ratio still has an impact, and that’s still happening across the county. You’re seeing less revenue because the houses are being evaluated at less than before,” Kratsas said with regards to real estate tax.

In terms of increases in revenue, Pine Community Center and park revenues are expected to increase by approximately $115,000 given the newly implemented rate changes and anticipated programming.

As the board moved on to the capital projects discussion, Tyler Walker, Pine’s director of Parks and Recreation, presented a potential expansion of the Pine Community Center to accommodate for increased demand for programming, especially for seniors.

“There’s a growing demand from the senior population for wellness programming,” Walker said.

An expansion of the center would allow for the addition of an indoor athletic space.

According to Walker, Pine’s outdoor field spaces and pavilions are close to 100% booked for the fall. An indoor athletic space would help keep up with the demands for sports organizations requesting field time, he said.

The Pine Community Center also is looking to replace cardio equipment in 2026. Cable strength trainers, treadmills, concept 2 rowers and a Smith machine are all proposed budget items.

“Treadmills, bikes — all of those — have technology associated with them. After so many years, they stop updating the technology for them so the functionality starts to dwindle. For that reason, the cardio equipment needs to be replaced more frequently than the strength equipment. That should be the last of our cardio replacement lines. Once we get updated to the new software that’s available, we should be set,” Walker said of the request.

The next step in the 2026 budget timeline is a presentation of the proposed budget to the board of supervisors on Oct. 20.