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<p>PLYMOUTH TWP. &#8212; The township supervisors adopted a 2017 budget Friday with no increase in real estate taxes or earned income taxes.</p><p>The total real estate tax rate remains at 1.386 mills, while the EIT again will be 1.485 percent. A mill is $1 in tax for every $1,000 in assessed property value.</p><p>The newly approved budget lists general fund revenues at $841,000 and holds expenditures to $830,000.</p><p>The township, which shed its distressed status under the Municipalities Financial Recovery Act earlier this year, has not raised property taxes since it initially entered that program in 2004. Entering the program allowed the township to raise earned income tax 1 percentage point.</p><p>Residents approved the adoption of a home rule charter in 2011, which made the township eligible to maintain the increased EIT after leaving distressed status.</p><p>Supervisors Chairwoman Gale Conrad said the township&#8217;s tax structure has allowed the township to avoid overburdening property owners, many of them elderly.</p><p>The township has focused on the needs of its residents, especially those affected by Susquehanna River flooding in 2011, Conrad said.</p><p>In spite of the fact that government buyouts of properties at high risk for repeated flooding had the potential to erode the township&#8217;s tax base, Conrad said township officials were more than happy to support those programs.</p><p>&#8220;Our hearts broke for those who lost their homes in the flood and for those who experienced repeated flooding,&#8221; she said. &#8220;We wanted to know that they were in a safe place.&#8221;</p><p>Fortunately, because new houses have been constructed in areas of the township that are not at high risk for flooding, the township&#8217;s tax base has not experienced a net decline.</p><p>Conrad said township employees work to stretch resources to ensure that the township never again falls into financial distress. &#8220;For example, we only have five full-time employees and they work hard,&#8221; she said. &#8220;There&#8217;s not a lot of down time. Street department employees, for example, are also skilled at vehicle maintenance.&#8221;</p><p>The township, Conrad said, applies for multiple grants throughout the year. &#8220;If we need something, we seek out a grant for it,&#8221; she said.</p><p>Although the township has only about 1,800 residents, it contains 26 miles of roadway, so &#8220;maintaining our roads is a priority,&#8221; she said.</p><p>Also noted in the budget are the salaries of all township employees, including the supervisors. Each supervisor on the three-member board makes $75 per month.</p><p>&#8220;That,&#8221; said Conrad, &#8220;is about $2 a day.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Conrad </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/web1_GaleConrad-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Conrad </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Geri Gibbons</p><p>ggibbons@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Geri Gibbons at 570-991-6117 or on Twitter @TLGGibbons.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Plymouth Township finalizes 2017 budget with no increase in property, income taxes