Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Municipal Finance topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
East Allen adopts 2026 budget, keeps tax rate at 6.5 mills and switches hydrant tax to a quarter-mill
Summary
Supervisors approved the 2026 operating budget, adopted an ordinance keeping the township tax rate at 6.5 mills and passed a resolution to convert the hydrant fee from a $30 flat charge to a quarter-mill assessment; staff said most residential parcels would see reduced bills while some commercial parcels would pay more.
Township staff presented the proposed 2026 budget and the Board of Supervisors voted to adopt it and to approve related tax measures.
Staff said the proposed overall budget anticipates $5,330,201 in revenue and $5,366,745 in expenditures for 2026; the general fund projection showed $4,004,001 in revenues and matching expenses. Capital projects will draw on fund balances for several planned park and recreation upgrades and a fire-truck purchase. After discussion, the board voted to adopt the budget by roll call; the motion carried.
The board then adopted ordinance 2025-05, setting the 2026 tax millage at 6.5 mills, the same rate in place since 2006, following a roll-call vote in which all present voted yes.
Separately, staff proposed changing the hydrant tax from a flat $30 per parcel to a quarter-mill assessment. Presenters said roughly 948 of about 978 parcels would see a reduction under the new method while about 30 commercial parcels would pay more; of those, 22 would see increases over $50 and five would see increases over $500. The board approved the hydrant-tax resolution by roll call.
Township staff said the change also allows consolidation of the property tax and hydrant tax into a single bill to reduce delinquencies and streamline billing; staff noted the change would slightly reduce overall hydrant-fund revenue in the near term but that the fund balance can absorb the difference.
The board’s votes followed procedural roll-call votes; no dissenting votes were recorded in the transcript. The budget and tax measures will take administrative steps for implementation in the coming months.
