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Limerick Township says sewer sale and volunteer services eased tax pressure, funded projects
Summary
An agency official for Limerick Township said selling the township's sanitary system produced about $1.2 million in annual interest and helped make the township debt-free, allowing officials to redirect funds to services and infrastructure while highlighting volunteer fire and public-works savings.
An agency official for Limerick Township said the township's recent sale of its sanitary (sewer) system "gave us the ability to generate $1.2 million in interest earnings annually," funds the official said are being used to reduce reliance on property taxes and support township services.
The official, speaking in a brief township presentation, said a broad-based study showed retaining the sewer system would have required "a significant increase in real estate taxes" plus rate hikes for sewer customers, while a completed sale could reduce the annual cost to support township services by roughly 37 percent. "The township is now debt-free," the official said, adding that former loan and bond payments no longer burden the annual budget.
The presentation linked that fiscal turn to everyday services. The speaker said the township has repurposed tax funds to maintain services for residents, with special emphasis on support for seniors. The official also said the township's public-works department now does much construction in-house, which the township estimates saved about $3 million over the past decade and saved roughly $500,000 to $1 million on a recent park expansion by avoiding public bids.
Public safety and volunteerism were highlighted as part of the township's cost-savings approach. The official described an all-volunteer fire department with about 70 active members, 62 of whom the speaker said are certified at the Firefighter I level under NFPA 1001 standards, and stated volunteerism "saves well over $4 million a year" for the township. The township also consolidated two fire companies into a single department and built two new facilities to replace older stations.
The presentation underscored local amenities and growth in western Montgomery County, noting about 22.6 square miles and nearly 21,000 residents, plus assets such as a regional airport and Philadelphia Premium Outlets. The official also noted the township's award-winning Spring-Ford Area School District and a planned 300th-anniversary celebration in 2026.
Numbers and savings cited in the presentation were described by the speaker as outcomes of the township's financial planning. The claims about interest earnings, percentage savings and dollar amounts were presented by the township official and are reported here as the official represented them. The township did not, in this presentation, provide underlying accounting reports or vote records in the transcript to independently verify those figures.
The official said the township continues to pursue grants and municipal partnerships to reduce long-term reliance on real-estate taxes and to fund future projects.
The township presentation concluded with the official saying these measures should provide benefits to the community for years to come; no formal motions or votes were recorded in the transcript.
