Springdale Township adopts budget with no new taxes

The Springdale Township Commissioners adopted a budget of nearly $1.5 million for this year that includes no increase in property taxes.

The budget, which passed 5-0, keeps the tax rate at 6.5 mills. At that rate, the owner of a property assessed at $75,000, the township’s average property value, will owe $880 in real estate taxes, the same amount as last year.

The budget is $14,000 less than last year’s spending plan.

The largest expense is $250,000 to help fund the Allegheny Valley Regional Police Department. In 2019, commissioners approved merging the township’s police department with Cheswick’s to create the regional police department. Both municipalities contribute equally to the department’s budget.

“The police merger is working. I always knew it would,” said Commissioners President Anthony Rozzano.

“We had to take into consideration that a lot of people are out of work now so we don’t have that wage income tax coming in, and we had to be real careful with the budget,” Rozzano said. “I think we did a really good job last year. We had money left over. And if we carbon-copied what we did last year, we’re going to be in pretty good shape next year.”

Rozzano said he hopes the township can pave more roads this year but those plans hinge on weather and the availability of road crews as the pandemic continues.

Rozzano said plans call for paving 300 to 400 feet of Carson Street and 100 to 150 feet of Williams Street and possibly parts of Shrader and High streets, along with minor patching on various streets.