Dec 24, 2025 By Jon Andreassi 3 min read

Peters Township council almost did not approve next year’s budget as elected officials were divided on a hike in taxes.

Initially, an ordinance raising property taxes in Peters from 1.7 mills to 1.95 mills failed in a 3-3 vote. Gary Stiegel Jr., Frank Kosir Jr., and Frank Arcuri voted against the increase. Council member Matt Rost was absent.

At that point, Township Manager Paul Lauer advised council to not adopt the budget, as the spending plan was predicated on the tax increase.

“If you do that, and if you leave it where it’s at, I would caution you against adopting the budget. Because the budget makes a revenue assumption,” Lauer said.

The tax increase and budget were ultimately approved when council decided to have Lauer call Rost to vote by phone. With Rost on speaker phone, both the tax increase and the $34,653,021 budget passed in 4-3 votes.

For the average homeowner, the 0.25 millage increase will raise taxes by $87.75 annually. The budget assumes the township will receive $27,059,763 in revenue. The deficit would be made up with grants and the existing fund balance.

The failure of the first vote led to spirited discussion among council and Lauer about how they arrived at the final meeting of the year without a consensus on how to move forward.

“I think it was pretty obvious that a tax increase wasn’t going to pass this year,” Stiegel said.

Lauer responded that he was “taken back” by the divided vote.

“In the budget discussions, I never heard that from you. I never heard that from council,” Lauer said.

Arcuri expressed frustration about the township’s spending and hiring practices.

“The problem is we never look at the costs, and how to keep them reasonable. That’s my concern. And then it results in this,” Arcuri said.

Council member Allison Shanafelt said she did not want to “always be on the side of wanting to increase taxes,” but that the 0.25 increase was necessary to address rising costs.

“Unfortunately, we’re just at that stage in the economy where things cost more and we have to get with the program … You know, I don’t want it coming out of my pocketbook either, but at the same time I just think it’s the only realistic way to keep going as a community,” Shanafelt said prior to the second vote on the tax increase.

Also at Monday’s meeting, council voted to set the fees for the township’s new aquatic center. A day pass will cost $3.50 for residents and $7 for nonresidents. A season pass for a family of four will cost $50 for residents and $100 for nonresidents.