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Lehigh Township directs manager to produce three‑year budget as police costs dominate current spending
Summary
Supervisors voted to have the township manager prepare a three‑year budget after discussing staffing pressures and noting police account for roughly 44% of current expenditures; the manager will produce a draft for Board review.
At the May 27 meeting of the Lehigh Township Board of Supervisors Cindy Miller argued the township needs to move from annual budgeting to a multi‑year approach to better forecast staffing and infrastructure costs.
Miller said the police budget currently comprises about 44 percent of township expenditures, with public works at roughly 25 percent, administration/legislative costs at 10 percent and Fire and EMS at about 8 percent. She noted the Board had authorized the Chief to apply for a grant that would cover the salary for two new officers for three years and asked what the township’s obligations would be when any grant term ends. "The grant will cover the salary for three years, but what will the impact be on the Township after that," Miller said, urging a longer planning horizon.
Manager Alice Rehrig told the Board she would prepare a three‑year budget and attempt to expand to five years. Cindy Miller moved to have the manager proceed with a three‑year budget; Janet Sheats seconded. The motion passed unanimously. The manager will present a draft budget for Board review; the Board emphasized personnel and grant‑termination impacts should be included in the modeling.
Next steps assigned included a near‑term deadline for a draft budget and follow‑up review by the Board.
