Kiski Township plans tax increase for 2025
KISKIMINETAS TOWNSHIP, Pa. (KDKA) -- Kiski Township is planning a tax increase for next year.
Board supervisors discussed the tax increase at Friday's special budget meeting, but answers about how much of an increase is coming have not been finalized.
"We're also mandated to have a budget in place by Dec. 31," township supervisor Chuck Rodnicki said.
The new budget will almost certainly up the township's current millage rate of 5.5 mills.
"Nobody likes a tax increase, but it's a necessary evil that you have to have on occasion," Rodnicki said.
Board supervisors discussed different increase possibilities on Friday. Rodnicki says there was a compromise.
"We came to that conclusion between 2 mills and 1.5. We agreed on 1.75, I think," he said. "I think that's where we'll be."
If a house is valued at $50,000, the current millage rate of 5.5 mills has a homeowner paying about $250 in taxes. With an increased rate to 7.25 mills, a homeowner would pay about $362.
"This is like a big household. It's like your household at home," Rodnicki said. "Your costs go up, your utilities go up, everything goes up, your insurances. We're the same thing."
The nearly 32 percent millage rate increase is not solidified until it's approved by the board. A special meeting to approve a new millage rate will be held Tuesday at 6 p.m.
Some people argue any increase is problematic.
"For people who are really struggling, it's gonna affect them more than people who aren't," Debra Knepshield of Kiski Township said.
Others say it's the right thing to do.
"The mill, I agree with," Teresa Rodnicki of Kiski Township said. "I feel that we should have increased that mill last year to help us."
