PUBLIC NOTICE
UPPER DARBY TOWNSHIP
YEAR 2010 BUDGET
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT A PUBLIC HEARING WILL BE HELD BY THE TOWNSHIP COUNCIL ON WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2009 APPROXIMATELY FIVE MINUTES AFTER THE END OF THE
SCHEDULED 7:30 P.M. MEETING (EST), AND ON WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2009 APPROXIMATELY
FIVE MINUTES AFTER THE END OF THE SCHEDULED 7:30 P.M. MEETING (EST), IN THE COUNCIL
MEETING ROOM #202, MUNICIPAL BUILDING, 100 GARRETT ROAD, UPPER DARBY, PENNSYLVANIA,
FOR THE PURPOSE OF REVIEWING UPPER DARBY TOWNSHIP'S BUDGET FOR THE YEAR 2010.
COPIES OF THE BUDGET MESSAGE AND THE BUDGET ARE ON FILE IN THE OFFICE OF THE CHIEF
MUNICIPAL CLERK, ROOM 107, AT THE AFORESAID MUNICIPAL BUILDING AND MAY BE INSPECTED
BY THE PUBLIC MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY, 9:00 A.M. TO 4:30 P.M.
RICHARD G. NOLAN
CHIEF MUNICIPAL CLERK
UPPER DARBY TOWNSHIP
OFFICE OF THE MAYOR
| HON. THOMAS N. MICOZZIE |
|
MUNICIPAL BUILDING |
610-352-4103 |
|
100 GARRETT ROAD |
FAX 610-734-7709 |
|
UPPER DARBY, PA 19082-3135 |
In January 2009, I was honored to be elected as your Mayor by my fellow Township Council
members. Upper Darby is Pennsylvania's 5th largest municipality with 82,000 residents. Having served
as the councilman from the second district of Upper Darby for over twenty years I expected the
transition to the office of Mayor to
go smoothly and I thank the dedicated employees of the Township
for their help in that transition.
The current state of the economy has placed additional pressures on everyone's budget, and
local
government has not escaped that pressure. As we try to maintain a consistent and quality level of
services to our residents we must make sound fiscally responsible decisions. The challenges facing any
government in an urban setting are great; to confirm this, one only needs to read the newspapers to see
the fiscal troubles facing local townships and boroughs throughout the Commonwealth.
The Upper Darby Township government has been able to balance quality services with sound
fiscal decisions. With Modest tax increases and a program to continually review the services provided,
we have been able to change our recycling program to a single stream collection system and then, with
the operational experience we gained, moved the collection to once-a-week pick-up throughout the
Township. This, of course, comes with a
necessary modest increase in the operational costs of recycling.
The Township's costs to dispose of trash and
recycling products has increased in 2009, and is forecasted
to increase in 2010. However,effective and efficient
management have helped to keep the increase for
these expenses in check.
The challenges of managing public safety in a community the size of Upper Darby are
formidable. The
skilled leadership provided by police superintendent Mike Chitwood and fire chief Ed
Cubler have kept our homes
and streets safe for our residents and their families.
The support of our fine recreation and library systems, the excellent senior citizens' center at
the Watkins
House, the award winning summer stage program, which the Township co-sponsors with
our fine school district, and countless other services maintained by the Township, help to make Upper
Darby a community of which we can all be
proud.
As 2010 approaches we have many things for which to be thankful and many new challenges
to face. We
must remain diligent in our efforts to control expenses. We need to explore opportunities to
attract new businesses
and seek grants to help improve our quality of life.
Like any government, local , state, or federal we are asked to support many different projects
or ideas.
Some of these projects coincide with evaluations the administration may already be working on
like our single
stream recycling project. New projects could potentially put a demand on tax dollars and
must be carefully
evaluated. While the cry from civil and political groups may be loud and strident to take
hasty action and spend
taxpayers' money without regard, our administration will continue to review all
aspects of every issue and maintain fiscal responsibility.
One topic that seems to fit this model is the purchase of open space. The Township's
comprehensive plan
encourages the township to obtain additional open space. As a councilman, I
wholeheartedly supported the concept
of increased open space. I spearheaded the purchase of the
Steven's tract on Providence Road. When the property
became available we negotiated a fair market price
with the owner and purchased the property with the idea of maintaining it in its current state and protect it
as open space. In addition, the administration was able to negotiate a
lease with the Upper Darby Marine
Corps League who maintains it as beautifully landscaped open space.
The administration is working with Delaware County's department of parks and recreation and
planning to
develop a greenway along Darby Creek. As second district councilman, I joined with county
officials in building the
highly successful dog park in the county's Kent Park.
We have negotiated an easement agreement with a property owner along Darby Creek that will
allow us to
connect a walking trail from the eastern end of Kent Park to the Swedish cabin. Plans are in
the works to obtain
another parcel along the creek to further the enhancement of the trail.
The township continues to monitor any available parcels of land which could add to our open
space
acreage. We also continue to review the availability of grants to aid in the purchase of new parcels
of ground.
Expansive condemnations, grants with large matching funds and other schemes of obtaining
open space, at
the expense of the taxpayers, are disingenuous methods of making political points with an
uninformed public, and
should be treated as such.
I address you this evening with my first budget message as Mayor of Upper Darby Township. I
have spent countless hours working on the budget with my staff. Our goal is to present to you a fair and
balanced budget that
helps ensure a community with strong public safety, quality of services and a keen
awareness of our diversity. We
are determined to remain the welcoming gateway to Delaware County.
I wish to thank the township workers for their dedicated commitment to our community.
Furthermore, I
wish to recognize their help in expanding our recycling effort. I want to express my
appreciation to everyone who
participates in the Weed and Seed program and the Drug Education for
Youth program, a cooperative effort
between the township, school district and the district attorney's office,
which took thirty-seven of our children to the
National Guard Indiantown Gap camp for a week of intense
training. I will continue my program of trying to make a
personal visit to every neighborhood in our
community. If you have a group that you would like me to come and
speak to, please contact my office.
The 2010 preliminary budget includes increases in several categories: police, fire, pension
contributions and
recycling.
The increases to the township's public safety activities will account for 72% of the 2010
increase in the
general fund budget.
The proposed budget continues once a week recycling and a twice a week trash pick-up starting
the week of June 14, 2010 through September 3, 2010. The budget also reflects the increase in user fees
imposed by the
Delaware County Solid Waste Authority at their transfer stations. This budget includes the
expenses associated with
the expansion of the recycling program to a single stream once a week collection
system. The single stream program
allows residents to recycle in one container, glass, cans, mail,
newspapers, magazines, food boxes, cardboard,
phone books and plastics identified as 1 and 2.
Together, these activities will necessitate an increase to the township's annual trash fee of $15.00
per
residential unit.
Based on the township's general fund budget requirements, the real estate tax increase on a
property
assessed at $100,000 will be approximately $1.25 per week or $65.00 for the calendar year 2010.
Thomas N. Micozzie
Mayor
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