West Mahanoy approves 2026 budget, discusses sewer charge
SHENANDOAH HEIGHTS – West Mahanoy Township has a balanced budget for 2026 and a new tax rate.
Township supervisors voted to approve the 2026 budget with revenues and expenditures at $2,372,600.
The tax rate, with the countywide reassessment being complete, was adjusted from 7.15 mills to 1.245 mills.
Each mill represents $1 in taxation for every $1,000 of assessed value.
Supervisors also discussed the sewer rate for Shenandoah Heights.
The sewer rate is increasing by $1 to $68 per month. That increase is from the Shenandoah Municipal Sewer Authority, which serves the borough and the Heights.
Michael Michalik, township secretary, briefly explained how the bill is set up.
He said that, each quarter, the township receives a bill from SMSA for each sewer hookup in Shenandoah Heights.
“Now, if you don’t pay that bill, we have to pay it anyway,” Michalik said. “If you’re delinquent in your bill for those three months, we still have to pay [Shenandoah] on time when they submit the bill.”
He added that, in 2008, new lines were added via a PennVEST loan with a 30-year term, estimated to be $20 extra per bill.
“When it started, Shenandoah’s bill was $20 a month. We were charging $20 a month,” Michalik said. “So it was $40 a month that first year.”
“That $20 a month that we charged goes towards paying off the loan,” he added. “That’s why customers in West Mahanoy Township are paying more, because we have to pay back the loan.”
It had been decreased over time to $16 a month.
“At the end of that loan, we’ll no longer charge that $16 a month, and you’ll be paying the same as the borough of Shenandoah,” Michalik said.
More information will be provided at the January meeting on January 5 at 7pm.
Supervisors also approved the collective bargaining agreement between the township and the West Mahanoy Township Police Department for 2026 through the end of 2028.
In other business, supervisors voted to promote Matthew Kropp, code enforcement officer, to full-time status at a rate of $29/hr beginning January 1.
Supervisors are also seeking nominees to serve as West Mahanoy Township’s representative for the Frackville Area Municipal Authority.
The township’s Altamont section is served by FAMA and a representative will be appointed by Frackville Borough Council.
Supervisors Chairman Paul ‘Pepper’ Martin said the township must provide three nominees to the borough for approval.
Raymond ‘Duke’ Tomko resigned from the position, leading to the vacancy.
Micquelynn Kapuschinsky contributed to this report
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