Leechburg Council approves 22% tax hike

Property taxes in Leechburg in the coming year are jumping by 22%.

Leechburg Council on Tuesday passed a $1.2 million budget for 2020 that includes a 4-mill real estate tax increase.

That means the borough’s tax rate will increase from 18.3124 mills to 22.3214 mills.

With the increase, a homeowner whose property assessment is $25,000 would pay about $555 in taxes — or $100 more than this year.

Voting in favor of the budget and tax increase were council members Alan Tarr, Nancy Bono, Chuck Pascal, Lorrie Bazella and Anthony Roppolo. Council President Tom Foster voted against it. Council Vice President Anthony Defilippi was absent.

“I just feel a 4-mill increase is outrageous,” Foster said. “It’s very much too high.”

More than a quarter of the proposed spending — close to $320,000 — would be put toward public safety costs. That represents a 13.4% increase over this year, according to figures from the borough.

That includes an increase of about $20,500 in spending to pay police officers. Police Chief Jason Schaeffer is in line for a pay hike of close to $2,800, according to the figures. That’s about a 5.4% increase of his pay from this year, $51,400.

The borough budgeted $3,000 for its Civil Service Commission after having not budgeted any money for it this year. The commission would use the money to pay for advertising for police officer positions, testing of police officers and a solicitor.

“We’re basically managing decline,” Pascal said. “This budget gets us to the point of stopping decline in terms of the services that we offer to the borough — police, road crew, streetlights, recycling.”

Resident JoAnne Miller said she appreciates the police and what they do but doesn’t think it’s fair council is raising taxes so officers can get a pay raise. She said she hasn’t gotten a raise in five years because her employer can’t afford to give her one.

“That takes my taxes to an exorbitant level,” she said. “One of the reasons that I bought here is because the taxes were low. It was a relatively inexpensive house in a good neighborhood.”

Schaeffer said he’s not happy council has to raise taxes. But if they didn’t, he knows some of his officers would have left to pursue jobs elsewhere.

The police department has two full-time officers — Schaeffer and Patrolman Mark Pollick — and three part-timers.

The department’s full complement is three full-time officers, Schaeffer said.

Tarr said council is trying to make the community safer.

“We’re trying to make it safer by getting more police hours filled, training the police and just relating back to the community policing the way it was many years ago when I was a policeman here,” Tarr said.

Resident Sheran Kupas, a former Leechburg tax collector, said the hefty tax increase may have been avoided if the borough had raised taxes by 1 mill every couple of years.

“Salaries go up, pensions go up, health insurance goes up. Still, I don’t want a 4-mill increase,” she said. “This hurts. It’s going to hurt our pocket.”

Kupas said she commends the police and “they really deserve everything they have coming to them.”

Resident Karen Freilino is on a fixed income but said she doesn’t mind paying higher taxes if it means the borough can offer necessary services like police protection.

“I’ve lived in this town all of my life. It means a lot to me. I know that nobody here is spending money irresponsibly,” Freilino said. “The borough (government) has to keep our town alive, and I think you’re all doing the best you can to do that.”