Upper Burrell passes 2023 budget and noisy animal ordinance with fines up to $600

Upper Burrell unanimously passed its $1.2 million budget recently for 2023 with no tax increase.

Supervisors also approved a new ordinance prohibiting animals from making extended loud noises, such as dogs barking.

After enacting the first tax increase in 16 years in 2022, Upper Burrell adjusted the budget and didn’t need to raise taxes for 2023, Supervisor Ross Walker said.

The owner of an average home, assessed at $22,000, would continue to pay $264 in 2023 for township real estate property taxes, which will stay at 12 mills.

The budget amounts are about the same for 2022 and 2023. Although expenses, such as wages and health benefits, are forecasted to jump slightly in 2023, an uptick in revenue is expected for cable franchise fees and Act 13 Impact Fees from Marcellus shale gas operations.

Earlier this month, supervisors unanimously passed an ordinance prohibiting loud, protracted noises from animals, particularly barking dogs.

“We’ve had a lot of complaints against barking dogs,” Supervisor Mike Conley said.

The problem has been persistent in a neighborhood near Greensburg Road and a few other neighborhoods, Walker said.

While barking dogs aren’t anything new, it’s a nuisance that disturbs other residents and continues in some areas of the township, often requiring township police to repeatedly respond to complaints, township officials said.

The new ordinance requires local police to respond and document excessive barking or other animal noises. Police will first give residents a warning. However, if the problem isn’t corrected, residents could be fined up to $600, said township Solicitor Steve Yakopec.

Exceptions will be made for service and comfort animals and other unusual circumstances, Walker said.

The ordinance acknowledges that residents have the right to have pets and other animals on their property. However, the animals can become a nuisance when they make excessive noise for 10 minutes or more nonstop or for a half-hour intermittently.