Jenkintown Borough is proposing an increase to their annual sewer fee and is considering an increase to their library fund.
The proposed 2024 budget, along with the sewer and library increases, will be discussed and voted on at the Borough Council meeting on Wednesday, December 6.
According to Borough manager George Locke, officials received plenty of public input regarding the library fund, which hasn’t seen an increase in 16 years.
“I was surprised by that, it was very thoughtful. People strongly support the library and the services they provide,” he said. “They’re doing better, they have a new director and they’re trying to fundraise but the cost of everything is up.”
Locke said that the library’s directors asked for an increase of a full mill, which equates to about $47,000 in revenue. Council is contemplating spreading out the increase over a two-year period—an increase of $13 per average household in 2024 and 2025 instead of a $26 increase in 2024.
As for the sewer increase, Borough residents will still pay less than most of their municipal neighbors.
“Our sewer rates are artificially low,” Locke said. “Ours was set at about $198 in 2015, and we’re still at that compared to other municipalities who are in the 800s. We’re affected by Cheltenham and ultimately Philadelphia. They’ve raised rates so our expenses are up.”
The Borough’s current rate for the average residential usage of 58,000 gallons per year is approximately $198 and was last set in 2015.
By comparison, the rates for the 30 neighboring municipalities ranged from $299 (Upper Merion Township), to $314 (Abington Township), to $325 (Rockledge Borough), to $818 (Cheltenham Township).
Taking all known factors into consideration, Locke said the best management approach to sustaining the sewer fund is to make the incremental increase defined in a memo Locke recently submitted to Borough Council. An excerpt:
It is proposed to continue the base rate at $82.50 per account and the usage rate at the current $3.41 per 1000 gallons. The adjustment proposed to the sewer rate structure is to reduce the allowance to 10,000 gallons from the current 24,194 gallons per year. By decreasing the allowance to 10,000 gallons, the rate will be more in line with the allowances of other Municipalities that utilize this 3-part fee structure in this comparison, generally set in the 6,000-to-8,000-gallon allowance range. This will allow the Borough to remain at the upper end of the gallon allowance and well below the base rate, usage rates, and the total sewer fee.
The current Jenkintown Borough rate for the average residential usage of 58,000 gallons per year is approx. $198. The proposed Annual Sewer Rate fee beginning in 2024 for the average residential usage of 58,000 gallons per year would be approx. $245.74. This would be an increase to the average residential usage of 58,000 gallons rate payers annual bill of $47.74. (Rate payers under 10,000 gallons a year would not be affected by this increase and those up to 24,000 would average a $28 annual increase.)
According to Locke, even with the increase, Jenkintown will remain the least expensive of the 30 reviewed municipalities by $53.26 per household. Their rates will fall under the two most expensive townships by $572.26 per household.
The full memo:
For all the latest news, follow us on Facebook or sign up for Glenside Local’s “Daily Buzz” newsletter here.