Bristol Township Council approved their 2025 spending plan recently which included an one-mill increase to help fund the five township volunteer fire companies and a $50 annual increase for garbage services.
The just under $72 million budget is a slight increase from the 2024 budget.
Township Manager Randee Mazur said the fire tax increase would bolster support for the five volunteer fire companies.
“We are very fortunate to have five very, very well-respected volunteer fire companies in Bristol Township,” Mazur said. The millage is to continue to support them.
The one-mill increase would raise the fire tax from its current rate to 3.98 mills. For a home with an average assessed value of $20,000, this translates to an additional $20 per year in property taxes.
Mazur explained that the fire tax increase is necessary as the township transitions away from using federal COVID-19 relief funds to support the fire companies.
“For the last three years, we have been supplementing the volunteer fire companies with that mill increase with our state and local fiscal recovery act funding,” she said.
The township’s five volunteer fire companies work with the municipality’s paid daytime fire crew.
The township manager highlighted the potential consequences of not supporting volunteer fire companies adequately and noted that moving to a 24-7 paid fire department would cause a larger tax increase.
“We’re going to do everything we can to support our volunteer fire companies,” Council President Craig Bowen said.
The trash fee increase of $50 per household is attributed to the increased cost under the $34.5 million multi-year contract with Waste Management, the township manager said.
Mazur said the township used reserves to balance the trash fund last year but can no longer continue that practice.
“We had to use reserves to balance out that trash fee. So now we’re going to, we’re recommending an increase of $50,” Mazur said.
Combined, the fire tax and trash fee increases will result in a $70 annual hike for the average Bristol Township household, officials said.
Mazur emphasized that despite the increases, Bristol Township’s fees remain competitive with neighboring municipalities.
“Bristol Borough pays $800 a month and Middletown is going up as well,” she said.
The proposed budget maintains the current tax rates for other township services, officials said.
Mazur said Bristol Township has not raised taxes, and actually reduced them twice since 2012.
In addition to the tax and fee increases, the 2025 budget outlines $12.12 million in grant funding for capital projects and equipment in the coming year.