Ellwood City Borough Council is holding the line on taxes for 2024.
During its voting meeting Monday, council adopted the 2024 borough budget and tax rate, which keeps the millage rate the same as 2023 at 8.75 mills, resulting in no real estate tax increase.
The borough’s purchase power adjustment for electric usage will be $0.018 per kilowatt per hour.
In other borough news, the following appointments were made to the following boards to fill vacancies:
•Joseph Lamenza, zoning hearing board, three-year term
•Sherri Greco, civil service commission, six-year term
•David Parker, zoning hearing board alternate, three-year term
•Jim Barry, economic development authority, five-year term
•Brad Ovial, board of health, five-year term
•Earla Marshall, recreation board, five-year term
The worker’s compensation insurance for the volunteer firefighters for 2024, through the State Workers Insurance Fund, will be $15,743, which will be paid from the general fund.
The following will be the salaries for the non-union full-time employees in 2024:
•Borough manager, $80,000
•Borough secretary, $55,037
•Fire chief, $81,740
•Paramedic captain, $42,640
•Public works director, $85,134
•Electric department superintendent, $83,485
•Wastewater treatment plant manager, $74,984
•Wastewater treatment lab technician, $54,330
The following will be the salaries or wages for the following part-time employees in 2024:
•Solicitor, $28,000
•Animal control officer, $5,000
•Health officer, $5,000
•Tax collector, $8,292
•Code enforcement officer, $17.86 per hour
•Playground coordinator, $3,000
•Firefighters, $18 per hour
•Paramedics, $20.50 per hour
•Secretary to the mayor/police/planning and zoning, $15 per hour
•School crossing guards, $15 per hour
•Parking meter enforcement officer, $15 per hour
•Parks manager, $16 per hour
•Park employees, $13 per hour
•Public works laborers, $15 per hour
Council will vote on whether to hire another full-time police patrolman in January, while it hired Justin Magnifico as a part-time firefighter at $16.83 an hour. Magnifico’s wage will increase to $18 an hour with the first pay period in January.
Council denied purchasing a UTV for the borough to use at $23,830.46 after a lack of a motion was made after introduction.
In his report, borough Manager Kevin Swogger said the Wampum Avenue pump station project is approximately 33 percent complete.
In his report, Mayor Anthony Court said the Ellwood City Police Department participated in the annual Shop With A Cop event, donated $500 to the Club Hope Foundation and, with the Ellwood City Fire Department, donated 21 cards with gift cards to needy families in the borough.
Court also said the police department will be working with the Lawrence County District Attorney’s office with a new visual aide program to help the department deal with offenders in the community.
“It’s a major upgrade for our department and I back it fully,” Court said.
nvercilla@ncnewsonline.com
