The general meeting for the Eldred Township supervisors that was scheduled for Wednesday night is canceled due to the impeding snowstorm.

The next meeting will be held on Tuesday at 2:30 p.m. in the municipal building. It will cover the budget and serve as the general meeting for the month.

Township secretary Ann Velopolcek said that new state guidelines for occupancy in a building restrict attendance to 10% of the originally permitted occupancy. This means that only nine people can be present in the meeting room, which will already be occupied by the three supervisors, township secretary, solicitor and possibly the township treasurer and roadmaster. That leaves only a few spots for the public.

The meeting also will be available to view and participate in online. A link to the meeting is available on the township’s website at www.eldredtwp.org.

The budget

The proposed budget includes a new capital reserve fund to save money for future purchases of vehicles and related equipment. This would add 0.25 mills to the taxes.

In recent years, the township has needed to replace old trucks that were too expensive to fix.

Velopolcek said the township replaced a bucket truck three years ago, and a dump truck last year. This year, two of its 25-year-old dump trucks were found to have cracks and other costly issues. The township approved a lease-to-own contract to replace one of those trucks with a new one.

The township looked at Municibids for a dump truck, but didn’t find what they needed, she said. That’s why they went through COSTAR to get a discount on a new one.

“These new trucks will probably last for 25 years,” she said.

By the time these trucks need to be replaced, the supervisors think they will have enough money saved in the capital reserve fund to buy what they need instead of leasing.

The proposed budget also includes an increase of 0.25 mills for public safety, which includes fire, police and emergency services.

There is also a slight increase of 0.07 mills for the general budget. The general budget covers operation and infrastructure costs in the township.

A breakdown of the real estate taxes on the website showed that 83% goes to the Pleasant Valley School District with a millage of 22.9179 mills. Monroe County gets 12% at 3.2273 mills, and the township gets 5%, currently at 1.38 mills.

“After the lengthy budget meetings, it is necessary to plan to the future for sustainability of these services. With that in mind, we are recommending proposing an increase of the millage by 0.57 mills, for a total to 1.95 mills,” the supervisors said in a statement explaining the budget on its website.