Charleroi council eyes taxpayer rebate
CHARLEROI – Councilman Randy DiPiazza wants to give borough taxpayers a financial boost.
Since the borough is scheduled to receive its first payment for the sale of the sanitary sewage collection system from the Authority of the Borough of Charleroi (ABC) in October, he suggested offering some tax relief to residents.
In June, council unanimously accepted an offer from ABC to purchase the system, sewer lines and all sewer property from the borough for $3.75 million. The deal calls for the borough to receive $1 million in October and $550,000 in each of the subsequent Octobers.
Council voted last month to give $100,000 each to the Charleroi Regional Police Department and Charleroi Fire Department upon the first payment from the ABC. The money for the police department will go toward two new vehicles, and the fire department will use the money to pay off truck loans.
DiPiazza, who with council President Frank Paterra were not at the August meeting, said Wednesday that no money should be offered until it is received.
“Unfortunately, other council members knew how the other half of council felt, but they went ahead and they put it through anyhow,” DiPiazza said.
“No disrespect to any departments, especially the fire department,” he said. “My first responders, I have great respect for them and the police department. We shouldn’t have been giving money away that we didn’t have in our pockets. I believe the taxpayers of this town are owed something, whether it’s a rebate check or in 2024 (we) lower the taxes to what they were.”
Councilman Paul Pivovarnik said perhaps council should begin talking about the 2024 budget. He suggested setting money aside to provide long-term financial stability.
“We’re talking about a tax rebate. We’re talking about lowering taxes, but we don’t even know what 2024 looks like,” Pivovarnik said. “Maybe we can lower taxes, but who knows, maybe we can’t even do it. Are we going to bank on just because we’re going to get $500,000 next year and say happy days, or are we going to try to continue to save that amount of money every year?”
DiPiazza said tax increases aren’t fair to taxpayers, especially those on a fixed income, and something should be given back to them.
Council decided to hold a budget workshop Monday at 6 p.m.