Jackson Township's budget for 2022, like those of other municipalities in the Harmony Fire District, increases the amount it will contribute to the fire company.

It does it, however, in a slightly different way.

The $8.6 million budget, which supervisors approved Thursday, ups the fire protection tax rate 1 mill, to 2.5 mills, but does not increase the township's overall real estate tax rate, which remains steady at 8.25 mills.

Jackson Township manager Chris Rearick said the 1-mill increase will meet what the fire district sought when it first met with Jackson about a new station.

“The township was honoring the spirit of that by raising it by a mill. Since that time, the value of a mill has increased to what a mill-and-a-half would have been,” Rearick said. “We were honoring the spirit of that request by providing a mill, which will only grow.”

Jackson's move to increase its fire department funding comes as Harmony Fire District begins building a new fire station on Zelienople's Main Street. Already, Harmony, Lancaster Township and Zelienople have increased their own fire tax rates to 3 mills, the maximum allowed by state law. Zelienople's tax increase is contingent on the other three municipalities doing the same.

Of the total $8.6 million slated for expenditure in 2022, more than half — $4.7 million — is expected to go toward capital expenses.The largest line-item within the capital reserve fund will be the $2.4 million Jackson plans to spend on its Northgate light project, plus $673,852 in expenditures on the western side of the project. Roughly half the project, according to Rearick, will be funded by a $1.2 million grant from the state's multimodal grant program, while the balance will be paid for via the county's infrastructure bank program.The infrastructure bank provides municipalities with 10-year loans at 0.5% interest rate.Rearick said the project will help improve traffic safety, while also providing pedestrian access between different parts of the area. He described it as “truly multimodal.”“There's an overall public interest in that those projects will link the Creekside Plaza to the south to all the properties on the west side of (Route) 19,” he added. “It helps to channel all the traffic to a safe and signalized intersection, rather than the multiple curb cuts that we now see.”Other infrastructure projects in the budget include $491,000 for the 2022 road paving program, install or upgrade drainage on two streets and install guide rails in certain areas, among other projects.It's a significantly smaller amount than Jackson expended last year, which Rearick said was part of the township's plan for its road networks.“That (last year's project) was with the intent of advancing and addressing some longstanding issues on some of our roads,” he said. “We're really entering into a phase now where we want to maintain our roads network with a budget of $250,000 to a half-million per year.”

Although the $8.6 million budget appears to operate at a deficit — Jackson intends to take an infrastructure bank loan for its largest capital improvement project — the township's operating budget will run at a surplus.Rearick said the smaller, $4.2 million general fund will provide a surplus of about $375,000. All of the funds will be appropriated to Jackson's capital reserve fund, which he said is what the township typically wants.“We tend to appropriate the excess monies routinely to our capital reserve,” he said. “Our overall projection is we can fund anywhere from $400,000 to $500,000 annually, (so) we can typically keep up with the projects in our capital improvement plan.”