Residents are still questioning the Lititz Borough Council after it approved its 2023 budget in December with a 62% tax increase for Lititz property owners and its decision not to replace the town’s longtime borough manager.
At the Jan. 31 Borough Council meeting, resident Dave Carson compared Lititz’s budget to other borough budgets in Lancaster County, pointing out Lititz had the largest increase of any borough for both taxes and trash collection.
Borough Council passed its $20,121,333 budget at the Dec. 20 meeting, which included a significant real estate tax increase. Millage increased from 2.0 mills to 3.25 mills, an increase of 1.25 mills or about $250 for a taxpayer with property with an assessed value of $200,000, going to $650 in 2023.
Carson highlighted Lancaster County boroughs that had no tax increases, saying most of them were able to have a balanced budget without raising taxes. In total, 11 of Lancaster County’s 18 boroughs had no tax increases in 2023.
The boroughs that had tax increases for 2023 included: Manheim, 5%; Mount Joy, 5.5%; Elizabethtown, 8%; Denver, 15%, and; Ephrata, 28%. Of all the boroughs, only Christiana had a higher tax increase than Lititz, coming in at 82%.
Carson also highlighted Lititz’s trash collection increase, going from $55 per quarter to $92 per quarter. He said East Petersburg increased services by $5, Elizabethtown increased trash by $23 a quarter to $81 and Mountville had an 8.2% increase for trash.
Carson said he attended the Warwick Area Republican Committee Winter Dinner on Jan. 27, and County Commissioner Ray D’Agostino made comments at the dinner that the county strives to have a 0% tax increase each year. The commissioner’s passed a $288.4 million balanced budget with no tax increase on Dec. 21.
“My comment is I hope Lititz strives to have a 0% increase,” Carson said. “It doesn’t appear to be in my mind. It appears that Borough Council looked at no alternatives, which would include reduced spending, and the only plan selected was to raise taxes and trash fees.”
Borough Council Member Ken Mobley said he has been working with staff on State Sen. Ryan Aument’s office to pursue grant money to complete projects that wouldn’t come out of tax money from Lititz residents.
Mobley said the borough has already identified $1.5 million in grants it can apply for and may be able to target even more for specific projects.
“We’ve been successful in the past,” Mobley said. “We want to continue that grant opportunity to pay for projects that don’t come out of taxpayer’s money…And as things change and more money comes in that we don’t know about, we want to find it.”
Carson said he appreciated Mobley’s answer, but he wanted to know what the borough is looking to do to reduce expenses.
Borough Council President Shane Weaver said the members look annually at the budget to determine where cost savings can be found in relation to what needs the borough has.
“I think you’re faced with a choice, especially in an environment that we’re currently in, where it’s reduction of services or increased tax rates,” Weaver said. “I think that’s kind of where we were at.”
Carson said other boroughs and municipalities faced the same economic issues facing Lititz and they were able to balance their budgets without raising taxes.
Borough Council Member Andrew Greiner said it’s not fair to make comparisons to other boroughs when the needs of different municipalities are not known.
“I don’t really care about the needs,” Carson said. “We know the needs for Lititz, and I think there were excessive spending items in the 2023 budget that were not addressed in my opinion and other people that were here at the last meeting.”
Borough Manager
Besides the budget, the council was also challenged on its decision not to hire a new borough manager after the retirement in January of Lititz Borough Manager Sue Barry, who served with the borough for 38 years.
Council decided to combine Barry’s responsibilities between Elijah Yearick, the borough’s director of planning, and Rob McFadden, the borough’s facilities manager. The council said the decision was made based on Yearick and McFadden’s experience with the borough and eliminating the need to hire a new borough manager.
According to borough records, Barry was making $121,305 per year in 2022 and was anticipated to make $124,945 in 2023, making her the highest paid borough employee. McFadden’s salary went from $100,900 in 2022 to $108,992 in 2023, while Yearick’s salary went from $88,670 in 2022 to $108,992 in 2023.
Carson said the borough was “not transparent” in its decision to consolidate Barry’s position between two existing staff members. He said he believes there should have been an open search done to find the best replacement for Barry.
“There was no public knowledge that anything was happening,” Carson said. “I found out Sue was retiring at the budget meeting with no notice beforehand and no news of a replacement.”
Staff writer Michael Yoder is an award-winning journalist who has been honored with several Keystone Press Awards for his investigative pieces.
