BAWG Report

June 11, 2009 at 3:20 pm (Board of Supervisors, Taxes, Tredyffrin Twp.) (, )

Fifty-five people attended the Tredyffrin Township’s Budget Advisory Working Group (BAWG) meeting last night. The BAWG sought input from Tredyffrinites as to their preferences for containing the budget problem.   So, after a brief overview of some BAWG activity, and collection of the Tredyffrin Community Survey, the mike was turned over to residents for comment.

Ideas from Residents

  • Against tax increase
  • Placing the library in the high priority section with police and fire departments.
  • Against earned income tax (EIT) [3 people], and questions surrounding its definition
  • Prioritizing government services, then reducing or removing lowest priorities
  • Ending the leaf recycling program, another recommended homeowners recycle their own leaves.
  • Doing a financial threat analysis to plan for financial collapses
  • Pooling of school district and township resources
  • Find cost saving ideas like not printing brochures, ending leaf composting
  • Modernizing health benefits, possibly adding flexible spending accounts. Lower the health care premiums by making deductibles higher.
  • Waiting on doing capital projects.
  • A request for township lists of its resources
  • A request for the TESB budget exercises which were very similar to this.
  • A request for criterion used in making decisions about the budget: Who would be affected?  How much money would be saved?  What percent of the budget does it represent?

Please send your email comments to BAWG directly at: tredyffrinbawg@gmail.com.  They earnestly seek our input, and if you visit their website, you may sign up for their updates.

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TT BoS – BAWG JUNE 10

June 3, 2009 at 6:58 am (Board of Supervisors, Politics, Taxes, Tredyffrin Twp.) (, , , , , )

Please Attend

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

at 7:30 p.m.

at The Tredyffrin Twp. Bldg.

1100 DuPortail Road, Berwyn, PA  19312-1079

The Tredyffrin Township Budget Advisory Working Group (BAWG)

Remember the Tredyffrin Twp. Board of Supervisors’ (TT BoS) Budget Meetings in Nov/Dec 2008…

which increased our taxes for the second year in a row?  Since then, the TT BoS created the Budget Advisory Working Group (BAWG) [http://www.tredyffrinbawg.com], and appointed the volunteers.

The BAWG will hold a public meeting on Wed. June 10 at 7:30 p.m. in the Tredyffrin Twp Building to gather public input.  There is a possibility that an Earned Income Tax (EIT) could be reconsidered by the group.

I hope you will bring a friend, and join me in giving the clear message that increasing our taxes is NOT an option, and that Tredyffrin Township must work within its budgetary boundaries just like we do.   I hope you will get involved – democracy works best when normal folks like us are involved - and budgets need not be regarded as overly-complicated.

- Evelyn “E.J.” Richter, A Pen in The Woods

P.S.  Things that may be discussed include:

  • Salaries, benefits and longevity pay for staff. (Non-union staff received longevity pay, cost of living increase, and 100% medical coverage for 2009.)
  • Size and scope of the police department
  • Subsidy levels for fire companies, libaries and the Woodland School
  • Outsourcing of Township services (think park and vehicle maintenance)
  • Sidewalks
  • Taxes, user fees
  • What services are most important to local residents?
  • What are residents’ views on the current and future tax burden?
  • Would residents prefer to increase taxes in order to maintain or expand services?
  • What services would local residents be willing to see reduced or eliminated?

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