The Herald, Sharon, Pa.

Local News

August 18, 2008

Planner: Shenango Township taxes won’t go up

By Patrick W. Connelly

SHENANGO TOWNSHIP, WEST MIDDLESEX — Voters in Shenango Township won’t see a tax increase in 2012 if they choose to merge with West Middlesex, a state planner Monday night told members of both communities.

Rumors of an increase aren’t true and residents in both towns will likely only pay around 8 mills in property taxes, consultant Alan Kugler of PA Futures, Erie, said.

There are few places in the state better located for growth than Shenango Township and West Middlesex, Kugler said.

“This is an ideally positioned community,” he said.

With its proximity to major roadways like Interstate 79 and 80 and state Route 60, the area could with planning become a hub for new businesses and homes, Kugler said.

“West Middlesex is essentially the hole in the doughnut surrounded by the township,” he said.

Many services are duplicated between the towns and combining them would have saved at least $124,000 this year, Kugler said.

An effort to make the two municipalities one began in 2006 when leaders started to study the concept.

Talks were put on hold after supervisors in December that year voted to end them. Borough officials in February began a campaign to revive that discussion.

Leaders in both communities approved ballot questions this summer to put the consolidation decision on voters’ shoulders.

“It is now placed squarely in the hands of citizens,” Kugler said.

For consolidation to pass, voters in each community would have to separately approve the referendum, Kugler said.

Combining the towns could help reverse a trend of declining population in the area that’s not consistent with the state or nation, he said.

While the rest of Pennsylvania is seeing at least a slight increase in population, West Middlesex and Shenango Township have lost population and those that remain have gotten much older, Kugler noted.

“This should be a real wakeup call,” he said. “This is scary.”

The study was funded by a grant through the Department of Community and Economic Development, Brian Hayden of the agency’s Pittsburgh office said.

“While remain neutral on the outcome, we certainly support this process,” Hayden said.

If the proposal is voted down, Kugler said leaders in both towns still need to find ways to work together and communicate for generations to come.

For some township residents like Carl Hoover, the whole idea still has many “open-ended” questions that need answered.

“Just by combining us is not going to fix the problems,” he said.

“The reason the people are leaving is for the jobs,” Hoover added. “The industry in this area has gone downhill so far so fast.”

Hoover said officials still need to take a second look at how things would be combined and how they would jointly operate.

An I-80 toll booth placed near the towns also could drive future business away, he said.

Informational sessions are also planned Sept. 30 and Oct. 29 in the West Middlesex High School cafeteria.

Additional information is also available online at Mercer County Regional Planning Commission’s Web site at http://www.mcrpc.com.





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