Borough hikes pool fees again, prepares for snow
SEVEN FIELDS — Borough council decided to raise pool membership rates about an additional 5% next year to continue to curb losses from the swimming pool operations.
The decision, made at the meeting Monday, Dec. 12., is in addition to the 10% rate hike on pool memberships made by the council at the Nov. 15 meeting.
The change, which figures into the projected 2023 budget, aims to curb losses from Seven Fields Community Pool operations that totaled $35,000 and $37,000 in 2021 and 2022, respectively.
That means individual residents who pay annual rates of $120 per person would instead pay $138 next year, while nonresidents who pay $155 now would pay $178 next year. These changes would not represent the discounted rates for families many community residents would pay, based on the number of family members, or the early bird options the pool also offers.
Prior budget losses involving the pool don’t have such an adverse impact on the borough’s budget as a whole. A third quarter budget analysis for fiscal year 2022 still showed a surplus of $237,263 and $190,843, which includes all water utilities used by residents throughout the year.
The council invested $34,866.30 in a new John Deere gator snowplow for the public works department, which will come with field maintenance attachments such as a spreader and a sprayer.
“I do want to emphasize this is not a toy or a four-wheeler or anything like that to the council,” said Tom Smith, borough manager. “This is something that can be utilized by the public works department on a regular annual basis.”
Smith said the public works department’s role in snow removal was growing, with PennDOT requiring the borough to clear a major intersection this winter. That would involve both the borough’s Bobcat snowblower and the Seven Fields Regional Police Department, he said.
“This is really going to streamline the tasks and effort of the public works department,” Smith said of the snowplow.
The borough also voted to advertise snow-blowing equipment it will sell after the new snowplow arrives.
The council voted to provide waivers on delinquent tax penalties for some borough property owners.
“It requires that, in the event that a taxpayer qualifies — so they have to provide an affidavit — they have to prove that within one year of buying a house, that if they didn’t receive notice of a tax bill, then they can pay the fee,” said Megan Turnbull, borough solicitor. “So it’s a one-time thing.”
If approved, the property owner can waive the interest penalty for the overdue taxes.
“I don’t think the situation applies all that often,” she said. “It’s really for that range in between when a tax bill has just gone out and someone closes on a house, and they don’t know that their tax bill’s kind of floating out there.”
