Ivyland Borough Council Votes for Tax Increase

In a 4-2 vote, the Ivyland Borough Council passed a measure during its final meeting of the year to raise the borough taxes by one mill. The increase will amount to about an additional $37 per household, depending on the home's assessment. The raise is expected to generate an additional $10,000 per year.

After cutbacks to the police department and the borough council's operations, the finance committee balanced the books for 2011, said committee chairperson Jennifer Armstrong.

However, a mandate from the FCC for all emergency management services to upgrade its radios by 2013 forced the council to raise the taxes in anticipation of the new equipment's cost. The Office of Emergency Communications is pushing for better connectivity between regions to assist with improved disaster response efforts.

"I don't have specific numbers yet," said Armstrong, "but the last time the radios were upgraded, 10 years ago, it cost about $60,000 to $70,000. If we keep the taxes at the new rate, after seven years we should have the radios paid off.  We want to start now to save up."

Armstrong was one of two votes against the plan. She felt that although the extra $37 does not seem like much, it could be a bit of a hardship in this economy.

"We made the cuts we had to make to balance the budget," said Armstrong. "We want to make it clear to the rest of the borough that the purchase of the radios is something we absolutely have to do."