CENTER TWP — Supervisors passed a $1.9 million balanced budget at Wednesday's meeting despite a dip in its revenue from the coronavirus pandemic.

“We had to across the board consider overall cuts,” said board president Ron Flatt.

The budget passed without a tax increase and without opposition from any board member, but resident Tom Schiebel took issue with the cost of what he said was one of the supervisors' “perks.”

Schiebel said the expense of $140,000 for medical insurance coverage for the five board members was too high, pointing out that it used about as much as half of the next year's estimated real estate tax revenue of $262,400.

“Free health care is a fantasy for most,” Schiebel said. “That's perfectly legal, but that doesn't make it right.”

Schiebel said the money used on the supervisors' health care could be better used on township projects and purchases.

“In January, our supervisors will make a choice. They can opt out of the health care,” he said. “It'll indicate to me who wants to be a supervisor and who will want their hand in the cookie jar.”

According to the budget, the $140,000 spent on medical care makes up almost the entirety of spending on the board members themselves, which is estimated at $161,500 for next year.

The township's largest expense next year is listed as public works at an estimated cost of about $700,000. Other major expense estimates include general services, $171,200; snow and ice removal, $160,000; and planning and zoning, $129,200.

The township's revenue next year will likely come from three primary areas: earned income taxes estimated at about $1 million, real estate taxes estimated at $267,000, and real estate transfer taxes estimated at $200,500.

Schiebel was the only resident to speak on matters of the budget, but Flatt elaborated on some key points that made balancing this year's budget difficult.

According to Flatt, Berkheimer — the tax administrator the township uses — estimated a 5% reduction in tax revenue due to COVID-19. Flatt said he believed the impact may reflect a 10% reduction or more.

To address the reductions, the board has restructured some of its services, including home inspections, zoning and public works.

“We did change the structure of how we do some of the work we do,” Flatt said. “That directly was leading to about a 5% to 7% savings.”

Flatt said the township will have to be conscious of spending in the near future to stay within a budget that has the uncertainty of COVID-19 all over it.

“We have other areas we can address (the tax revenue reduction) in part just by generally holding down costs and watching what we spend in all areas moving forward,” he said.