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Salem Township supervisors approve pension payments, insurance renewal, fire‑tax distributions and weight‑limit ordinance
Summary
Supervisors unanimously approved August minutes and monthly expenditures, set 2025 pension Minimum Municipal Obligations (MMOs) and authorized payments, renewed UPMC coverage with an 8.4% premium increase, directed fire‑tax and state aid distributions to two volunteer departments, and adopted a weight‑limit ordinance.
The Salem Township Board of Supervisors on Sept. 18 approved a set of routine financial and administrative measures, including pension funding, an insurance renewal and distributions to volunteer fire departments.
Supervisors Bob Zundel, Ken Trumbetta and Kerry Jobe voted unanimously to approve the minutes of the Aug. 21 meeting and monthly expenditures totaling $171,198.01 across funds (General Fund $44,476.58; Payroll $43,615.59; Liquid Fuels $71,021.88; Sewer Revenue $11,470.00; others). The board accepted the certified 2025 Minimum Municipal Obligation (MMO) for the Salem Township Service Employees Defined Benefit Pension Plan and voted to pay $31,316. The board also approved payment of $15,811 for the defined‑contribution plan’s MMO.
Supervisor Kerry Jobe, citing the Jan. 1, 2023 valuation, told the board the defined‑benefit plan’s funding requirement had fallen sharply from prior years and said, “We are finally out of the point where the taxpayers are subsidizing the pension system by putting more money into it than we are gaining.”
The board approved renewal of the township’s UPMC health plan, effective Oct. 30, 2024, noting an 8.4% increase in the estimated monthly premium from $12,174.07 to $13,199.96.
Supervisors authorized fire tax contributions of $35,000 each to the Slickville and Forbes Road Volunteer Fire Departments, a 25% LST distribution for 2023 totaling $33,923.75 (each department to receive $16,961.87), and an equal split of Commonwealth State Aid of $41,015.61 (each department to receive $20,507.80). The board also adopted Ordinance No. 01‑2024 to restate restricted roadways and impose weight limits on township roads and bridges.
All motions recorded in the minutes passed by unanimous votes of the three supervisors. The board set a special meeting for Sept. 24 to finalize quotes for an LSA grant application and scheduled its next regular meeting for Oct. 16, 2024.
Votes at a glance: approved minutes; expenditures ($171,198.01); DB MMO ($31,316) and payment; DC MMO ($15,811) and payment; UPMC renewal (8.4% increase); fire tax and aid distributions (Slickville and Forbes Road VFDs); adoption of Ordinance No. 01‑2024. All recorded as unanimous (Zundel, Trumbetta, Jobe).
