MANCHESTER – The township budget was introduced during a recent council meeting which also featured several proclamations.
Township Clerk Teri Giercyk read the introduction of the budget resolution into the record. The total budget for 2024 is $47,512,280.54. Taxes will account for $27,445, 220.13 of this and other revenue, such as grants and fees, will make up the remainder at $20,067,062.51.
Although the township collects school tax and other kinds of taxes, this is only the municipal portion.
The Township Council unanimously voted to introduce the ordinance. The public hearing for the spending plan will be held on Tuesday, May 28 at 6 p.m. in Town Hall on Colonial Drive.
Proclamations
That meeting also featured three proclamations that that Mayor Robert Arace presented. Township Veterans Advisory Commission Chairman Roger P. Grenier received the proclamation for Silver Star Banner Day.
The mayor noted that Silver Star Banner Day was created to observe the nation’s wounded and ill as well as the families of those who have served in the United States military. The banner serves as “an honor to individuals who have received physical and mental wounds in service to the country regardless to their time in service.”
Meanwhile a proclamation observing professional clerks’ week was presented to Township Clerk/Registrar Giercyk and Deputy Clerk Maria Golda.
“The local clerk is a time honored and vital part of local government and provides the local link between citizens, the local governing body, and the agencies of government. The municipal clerk has pledged to be ever mindful of neutrality and impartiality rendering service to all,” the mayor said reading the proclamation.
It was initiated in 1969 and observed throughout the United States, Canada and 15 other countries. In 1984, President Ronald Reagan signed a proclamation that officially declared Municipal Clerks Week the first full week of May. In 1994 and 1996, President Bill Clinton also signed proclamations confirming Municipal Clerks Week.
A proclamation for Public Safety Telecommunications Week was presented to Police Chief Robert Dolan. It marked Dolan’s last council meeting as chief of police as he is retiring.
The mayor noted “emergencies can occur at any time that require police, fire or emergency medical services and when an emergency occurs the prompt response of police, fire and emergency medical personnel is critical to life and the preservation of property. During an emergency we rely on the 911 system and the public telecommunicator that staffs it.”
Half a million telecommunicators respond to calls for help, responding statewide by dispatching the appropriate safe responders as quickly and safely as possible. Their care to provide accurate and timely information that they obtained make them a first critical contact associated with emergency services.
Mayor Arace noted the telecommunicators of the township’s police has contributed “substantially to the apprehension of criminals, response to fires and treatment of patients.”
