Ross Commissioners say they will look long and hard at all possible spending cuts before they consider any increase in the property tax rate. They all agreed, however, that balancing the budget will be a major challenge this year.

Commissioners appeared stunned last month when Manager Wayne Jones presented a preliminary budget that indicated a potential $2 million gap between expenses and revenues. Mr. Jones called the spending plan an "initial draft" and said he and other department heads realized that budget amounts would change. That gap has since been trimmed to about $1.3 million.

Proposed spending for 2010 is about $14.3 million with revenues estimated at $13 million.

Commissioners Lana Mazur, Daniel Kinross, Grace Stanko and Grant Montgomery all have made clear their opposition to any change in the property tax rate.

"There are a lot of grandmas in my ward, and they won't get an increase in their Social Security checks," Mrs. Stanko said at a recent committee meeting. "We'll have to cut back, too."

"We'll have to manage without a tax increase," Mr. Kinross agreed.

Others were not so sure.

Ross residents like the quality of life in the township, commissioners President Daniel DeMarco said. For that reason, he said he would support a budget that maintained current services, even if it required an increase in property taxes.

Many of the township's expenses are mandated by labor contracts or rising prices for things such as health insurance and fuel, he said. Those costs are beyond the control of the commissioners, he said.

Commissioner Chris Eyster warned that the board would face a choice between cutting existing services or raising the property tax rate. The bill that most residents pay in township property taxes is a "drop in the bucket" compared to their overall tax burden, he said.

Commissioner David Mikec said he believed that there was little "fluff" left in township spending. "I don't think that cost-cutting alone will balance the budget," Commissioner Peter Ferraro said. "Ross provides residents with good bang for the buck."

Local services include police, snow plowing, parks, streetlights, regular repaving and library access, he said.

In recent years, the township has balanced its budget with transfers from an emergency reserve called the fund balance. That source of funds is almost exhausted, Mr. Ferraro said.

"We have union contracts to comply with," Commissioner Gerald O'Brien said. "Our costs are going up while our revenues are not."

Nevertheless, any increase in taxes still should be a last resort, he said.

Further reductions in expenditures may be hard to come by. Commissioners last year cut the number of police cars scheduled for replacement. As a result, maintenance costs have risen dramatically as the fleet has aged, Police Chief Ralph Freedman has said.

Because of its large commercial and retail district, Ross depends much less on property taxes than most communities. The township's current tax rate is 1.9671 mills, with each mill bringing in between $1.2 million and $1.4 million. For the owner of a home assessed at $100,000, current municipal property taxes are $197.

Ross has not increased the property tax rate in 18 years. It also shares a 1 percent earned income tax with the North Hills School District.

Commissioners raised the township's local services tax from $25 to $50 in 2007 and to $52 this year. That tax is paid by everyone who works in Ross, including thousands of retail employees who do not live in the township.

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