Fox Chapel officials hold line on real estate taxes, garbage bills

Fox Chapel property owners will not have to pay more in real estate taxes or for garbage collection in 2024.

Council voted 6-0 last month to adopt its 2024 budget and maintain the tax rate at 2.95 mills.

Councilman Thomas Karet was absent.

The borough has not raised real estate taxes in at least five years.

Projected revenues and expenditures are both a little less than $9 million with an estimated $5,800 surplus at year’s end.

Projected income includes about $3.6 million in real estate taxes, $4 million in Act 411 taxes including earned income taxes, $168,000 in state shared revenue and entitlements, $140,000 in business licenses and permits, $118,000 in regional asset district sales tax, $83,000 in interest earnings and $12,500 in charges for services.

Proposed spending includes about $3.1 million for public works including roughly $1.6 million for paving, $2.27 million for public safety, $1 million for general government including salaries and supplies, $884,600 for sanitation, $653,000 for recreation and library, $321,000 for debt service, $117,000 for insurances and $2,000 for health and human services.

Highlights of the budget include $344,000 for capital improvements that include new trucks for the public works department, hoses for the fire department, a computer server and building maintenance equipment.

Council Vice President Harrison Lauer said maintaining services and programs with risings costs and inflation is a result of hard work by borough Manager Gary Koehler and his administrative team.

“We’ve had great borough management, and we’ve taken advantage of the ability to keep our costs down and managed our finances very effectively,” Lauer said. “They’ve done a great job.”

Lauer also noted the administration has invested some of the borough’s estimated $15 million cash reserves in certificates of deposit, or bank CDs, including $2.5 million in a six-month CD with 5% interest rate and $7.7 million in a one-year CD with 4.85% interest rate.

The borough also benefited from a recent $91,000 unexpected earned income tax payment. That may push the 2023 year-end’s surplus to about $100,000. Those figures have yet to be finalized.

Council budgeted $100,000 for joint comprehensive plan recommendations in 2024.

The borough joined with O’Hara to develop a long-term plan that addresses, among other issues, traffic congestion and transportation opportunities. The goal is to improve the quality of life for residents.

Consultants Pashek+MTR compiled results of a survey that was answered by more than 1,300 residents. People were interested in increased safety, more walking and biking trails, speed enforcement, improved public transportation and flood prevention, according to results.

Trash talk

Vogel Disposal Services is Fox Chapel’s garbage collector.

Koehler said Vogel charges the borough and garbage collection bills are paid for out of tax dollars instead of individual billing.

The 2024 trash collection invoice is projected to be $910,200, about $10,000 more than this year. The added expense is not being passed on to property owners.

“I think it’s good news,” Koehler said about the budget. “The borough is in a strong financial position. We’re preparing for the future.”

One of the ways Fox Chapel is preparing for the future is with the launch of a refuse task force.

It will get to work next year talking with residents and companies about trash collection and recycling options.

The current garbage contract features unlimited weekly collection. It expires at the end of 2025.

Koehler said they hope to seek bids at least six months before that time.

“We want to get a lot of information so we don’t end up doing a bid and having an enormous cost or have no bidders at all,” the manager said. “There’s a process. You can’t just make a change overnight. We need to understand the whole process and the dynamics of the industry to make sure (there are) viable options in the future.”