SF makes changes to proposed budget
Commissioners in South Fayette continued discussion on the township’s 2014 budget at the board’s Dec. 4 workshop meeting. The budget is a balanced one, with revenues and expenditures at $9,095,678. The township’s millage will remain the same as the 2013 rate, at 3.48 mills.
A few changes to the budget since last month were presented by Township Manager Ryan Eggleston. One of the significant changes in the capital budget included eliminating a proposed disc golf course at one of the township’s parks. Instead of the disc golf course, Eggleston proposed purchasing a bio-grinder for Boys Home Park at a cost of $20,000, which would have been the cost of the course.
The draft budget is available for public view at the municipal building and on the township’s website, www.south-fayette.pa.us. The board is expected to set the 2014 budget and taxation rate at its Dec. 11 meeting.
Included in the budget are proposed upgrades to the township’s website at a cost of about $30,000. Eggleston is recommending the township go with a proposal from the website design company Civic Plus. Eggleston said the township’s IT consultant Ron Deceder, as well as a couple of residents with website design backgrounds, agreed it was time for a redesign of the website.
“We’ve gotten good feedback,” Eggleston said of Civic Plus’s proposal. He said if approved, the redesign will take “roughly four to six months” to complete.
Eggleston presented a draft of a proposed resolution setting the township’s fees. The draft includes several increases to fees including building and sign permits. The draft also has proposed fees for oil and gas development. Those fees include application fees of $5,000, with an additional $25,000 that has to be given to the township to be placed in an escrow account from which the township may draw from, or reimbursed for administrative expenses and engineering costs and fees for review and inspections.
A copy of the draft fee resolution can be found on the township’s website under the resolutions and ordinances section. The board could vote on the increases at its Dec. 11 meeting.