Cetronia Ambulance Gets 40 Percent of Budget Request

South Whitehall Township commissioners voted unanimously Wednesday to adopt a 2014 budget with no tax increases.

However, commissioners were not united in deciding on one expenditure before the budget came to a vote.

Commissioners voted 3-1 to contribute $10,000 to Cetronia Ambulance—40 percent of the contribution it had asked the township to provide. Cetronia is currently in the midst of building a new $10 million home that it will share with Lehigh County.

The non-profit ambulance corps had asked the township for $25,000, but Commissioner Glenn Block argued this is too much money given the township’s move toward belt-tightening. He described the township budget as being in a “deficit.”

Block also argued that Cetronia Ambulance is not like fire companies because it charges a fee for its use.

However, Board President Christina Tori Morgan argued that the request was reasonable given the service that Cetronia Ambulance provides to the township. The company has even offered to store the township’s mobile command vehicle at the new building and drive it to wherever it is needed at no charge.

Commissioners Dale W. Daubert and Thomas Johns agreed with Block, forming a majority to vote for the $10,000 contribution.

“I feel strongly that it should be $25,000,” said Morgan, explaining her vote against Block’s motion for a $10,000 contribution. Commissioner David L. Bond abstained from voting on the question.

The township’s real estate tax rate remains at nearly 1.65 mills, which means that a homeowner who has a house with an assessed value of $200,000 will pay almost $330 a year in tax to the township. A mill is $1 for every $1,000 of assessed value.

The bulk of the township’s $14.4 million general fund operating budget pays for personnel salary and benefits. Police cost nearly $5.1 million. The township Department of Public Works budget is $3.4 million.