MIDDLESEX TWP — The 2016 preliminary township budget reveals the cost to fight a legal challenge to a zoning ordinance.

The supervisors approved the tentative budget Wednesday night.

It shows that while $15,000 was budgeted for the township solicitor in 2015, $107,000 is the amount Middlesex expects to pay by year’s end. The legal fees for the zoning hearing board attorney were projected at $10,000 but $46,000 is the amount projected to be spent by the end of 2015.

Asked how the township comes up with the money to pay for unforeseen expenses, manager Eric Kaunert said Middlesex did not replace a broken air conditioner at the township building as planned. That provided $40,000 to pay for legal fees.

He said the police department also went without the new police car it had budgeted, which provided an additional $30,000 for legal fees.

The rest of the funds came from other line items that Kaunert said had come in under budget.

Projections for the 2016 budget include $100,000 for total legal fees.

The situation arose when a group of citizens and two environmental organizations challenged a zoning amendment approved in August 2014 by the supervisors that regulates shale natural gas drilling.

When the zoning board upheld the supervisors’ decision, the groups appealed the board’s decision to county court. Judge Michael Yeager on Thursday upheld the zoning board’s decision.

The citizens, along with the Clean Air Council and the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, said the amendment allowed shale gas operations in most of the township, which they feel would be detrimental to citizens.

Regarding the 2016 budget, the property tax rate likely will remain the same next year for the 11th consecutive year.

The tentative budget totals $2.2 million. The property millage rate will remain at 12 mills. A mill is equal to $1 for each $1,000 of a property’s assessed value.

Kaunert said the township spent $525,000 on road improvements in 2015, For 2016, Kaunert budgeted $391,000 for that work.

He said a fund balance of $292,262 is projected.

“I was always taught to always have a balanced budget,” Kaunert said.

The supervisors are expected to vote on the final budget Dec. 9.