Lower Township moves bond and reappropriation ordinances to public hearing

Lower Township Council unanimously voted to advance two ordinances to public hearing: a bond ordinance to finance construction of a Public Works building and a reappropriation ordinance reallocating prior bond proceeds for capital projects.

A clerk announced the first readings and the council then voted to move both ordinances forward. The bond ordinance appropriates $2,000,000 and authorizes the issuance of $1,900,000 in bonds or notes to finance part of the cost of a new Public Works building; the reappropriation ordinance would reallocate $526,000 in bond proceeds from various prior ordinances to finance additional capital improvements. The public hearing on both ordinances is scheduled for July 1, 2024.

Council members recorded in the vote were Councilmember Conrad, Councilmember Kums, Councilmember Roy, Deputy Mayor Parry and Mayor Sipple; the motion to proceed was seconded and passed unanimously.

Why it matters: the bond and reappropriation ordinances set the fiscal steps necessary to fund the township's planned capital projects, including the Public Works building and other infrastructure work described later in the meeting. The ordinances will be subject to public comment and formal adoption only after the July 1 public hearing.

The council did not adopt the ordinances at this meeting; they were placed on the agenda for a public hearing on July 1, 2024, at which members of the public may comment before any final vote.