Home rule charter could shrink council, abolish mayor, add tax revenue increase limit
MAHANOY CITY – If approved in the primary election in April, Mahanoy City will have a smaller council and no mayor come 2022.
According to the final report and charter recommendation adopted Feb. 12 by the Mahanoy City Government Study Commission, two borough council positions and the mayor’s position will be abolished at the end of their terms in Dec. 2021 if the charter is approved.
If approved, Mahanoy City would additionally become the first municipality in Schuylkill County to adopt a home rule charter.
The home rule process was initiated last year by recommendation of the Pennsylvania Economy League, the Act 47 coordinator for the borough. The borough has been in the state’s Act 47 program since 2016, designating the borough a distressed municipality. At that time, Matt Domiles, with PEL, said in March of 2019 that the borough owed $800,000 on its bills, of a budget of $1.1 Million.
At the time the borough entered the Act 47 program, it was projected to have a $250,000 deficit every year through 2021, he added then.
Domiles said then that the home rule charter offers more flexibility for the borough without cutting services to the borough. According to his presentation, a home rule charter removes the earned income tax rate limit, allowing it to maintain its current 2% rate, and removes the property tax rate limit of 30 mills.
“This is long-term. The decision made here is a long-term decision,” Domiles said then. “This [will decide] how the residents of the borough want to steer into the future.”
Residents have expressed concerns at borough council meetings and public hearings that the removal of tax rate limits could be taken advantage of, while officials have noted that, when the borough exits the Act 47 program as mandated in 2021 and the earned income tax levy reverts to the 1% limit, the only other way the borough can cover deficits is by raising property taxes.
The recommended home rule charter implements a 10% limit on annual tax revenue increases unless a majority plus one vote is made.
Voters in Mahanoy City will have the opportunity to approve or reject the home rule plan in the April 28 primary election, in which the question “Shall the Home Rule Charter contained in the report, dated February 12, 2020, of the government study commission, prepared in accordance with the Home Rule Charter and Optional Plans Law, be adopted by the Borough of Mahanoy City?” will be asked.
Two public forums will be held in advance of the vote, in addition to one held Tuesday night, to inform voters on what the charter is. They will be at 6pm on March 24 at borough hall, and the same time on April 23 at the Mahanoy Area High School.
Read the charter report here:
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