Cheswick passes budget with no new tax increases

Cheswick Council has passed a budget of nearly $1.7 million for this year that has no property tax hike.

Passed with a 6-0 vote, the budget keeps the tax rate at 5.85 mills. The total includes 5.60 mills with an additional 0.25 of a mill to pay for maintenance at Springdale Free Public Library, which serves Cheswick, too. At that rate, the owner of a property assessed at $104,850, the median property value, will owe $613.37 in real estate taxes, the same amount as in 2020.

The budget is $100,000 less than last year’s spending plan. The largest expense is $234,000, Cheswick’s share to help fund the Allegheny Valley Police Department.

In 2019, Springdale Township commissioners approved merging the township’s police department with Cheswick’s. Both municipalities contribute equally to the department’s budget.

“Obviously under the circumstances, we wanted to make sure that we were doing what we could to not cost our taxpayers any additional funds,” Cheswick Council President Michael Girardi said. “We did everything we could to make sure that that we weren’t raising taxes and to give them a break.”

Girardi said some budget money has been earmarked for various improvements.

“We have a number of alleys that haven’t been paved in a long time and are in need of improvement. So we have money budgeted for that this year,” Girardi said. “We’re hoping to have a long-term project to address all of the alleys in town in the next few years.”

Girardi said money has also been budgeted to improve parks, including renovating the bathrooms at MacLean Avenue Park.

“We’re excited about the possibility of having waterlines put into Rachel Carson Park to allow it to have facilities there to make it more useful to residents during community events.”