Ellwood City residents may expect to be paying higher taxes in the new year after council voted to pass a bond during their regular meeting on Monday.
The exact wording of the motion was, “a motion would be in order to authorize a bond issue in the amount of $9 million for the purpose of building a new public works facility, electric facility, purchase a new fire truck, the Borough’s match for a Multi-modal Grant and the installation/maintenance of streets/infrastructure.”
Council discussed the motion before deciding to pass it; David DeCaria, the council Vice President, reminded that although the Borough will be spending a lot of money up front, these are issues that need to be addressed and any lost profits in the beginning will be regenerated “three times the amount” after the completion of the proposed updates.
Marilyn Mancini, a council member, said that she thinks nine million is too high and she would only agree if the motion was for seven million. Another council member, Judy Dici, agreed with Mancini and expressed her anxiety about taxes going up for the residents.
Connie MacDonald, the council president, said that it is not known at this time if taxes will go up, however if they do it will likely not be a very noticeable amount. He gave the example that on a $50,000 house the property taxes would go up an estimated $50 dollars a year.
Many residents are not in favor of the new bond due to the possibility of increased taxes.
Lisa Guerrera, an Ellwood resident, attended the council meeting on Monday and wrote a lengthy opinion post on Facebook expressing her thoughts on the matter, “… I’m sure the current building (the public works facility) is old and decrepit. But how many of us have houses that are old and in need of repair/remodeling? How many people here need a new vehicle? Or new appliances? We have to put things off until we can afford them…” Her full post can be viewed in the Facebook group, Standing Up to Ellwood Electric.
Updates to follow.
Disgusted!
Agreed, it’s getting ridiculous here.
Ellwood city doesn’t care about the elderly, ,ppl that make minimum wage,,we need new council ppl .we need get rid of these ones..
I have been inquiring about placing an addition on my homr here in the Boro instead of seeking a new residence. This has made my decision very easy. Between a tax hike and the electric bills. It’s not worth staying in the Boro any longer.