2020 Road Program Falls Victim to COVID-19
This 8.5 minute podcast features a recording of a segment of the April 22, 2020, Board of Supervisors meeting during which the Supervisors ratified their decision to re-allocate 1 mill of real estate tax revenue earmarked for road repairs from the debt service fund to the general fund.
This was in anticipation of an Earned Income Tax revenue shortfall due to the COVID-19 shutdown of local businesses [but see "UPDATE on EIT" below]. The 1 mill of real estate tax revenue was slated to be used to borrow money to repave more than 5 miles of roads in Newtown Township will now be used to pay general operating expenses such as salaries of township employees including police officers, fire fighters, administration staff, and public works employees.
The 1.0 mill real estate tax slated to be used to borrow money to repave more than 5 miles of roads in 2020 was "re-allocated" to cover General Fund expenses - a drastic move in anticipation of an Earned Income Tax (EIT) revenue shortfall of 8-11% due to the COVID-19 shutdown of local businesses. That shortfall, however, never materialized. According to Keystone Collections, which collects EIT, at the close of August 2020, Bucks Tax Collection District (TCD) ended up with an increase of about $1.6million from 2019. As it stands now, the TCD as a whole is up a little over $55,000.00 in 5th quarter money! Comparing earned income collections for 1/1/20 – 8/31/20 vs 1/1/19 – 8/31/19, Newtown Township specifically is up about $258,000.00 or 4.8%
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