Colebrookdale OKs $140,461-a-Month Police Budget for 2027

Colebrookdale Township will pay $140,461.33 a month for police protection in 2027. The township's Board of Commissioners approved the 2027 budget for the Eastern Berks Regional Police Department at its Sept. 21 meeting, according to minutes the township posted this week (p. 2). The same night, the board adopted an ordinance on door-to-door selling and released $37,237.97 in state aid to the volunteer firefighters' relief fund.

Colebrookdale is a first-class township, according to the township's About page, which also notes that Boyertown borough was carved out of the township in 1866. First-class townships in Pennsylvania are run by an elected Board of Commissioners rather than a Board of Supervisors. The two governments belong to the same regional police force.

What the police vote means

A regional police department is one force that serves more than one town, with the member towns splitting the bill. The Eastern Berks Regional Police Department was formed when the Boyertown and Colebrookdale police departments merged. When the department began operating in June 2020, WFMZ reported, it covered Colebrookdale Township and the boroughs of Boyertown and Bechtelsville, worked out of Boyertown's station on West Philadelphia Avenue, and was led by Chief Barry Leatherman, who had been Boyertown's chief. Leatherman still holds the job, the Sept. 21 minutes show; the minutes do not describe the department's current membership.

At the Sept. 21 meeting, Chief Leatherman gave the board his chief's report, the monthly and mileage reports and a speed report for Powder Mill Hollow Road, then presented the 2027 police budget. The minutes (p. 2) record the vote this way: "On a motion by Commissioner Spade and seconded by Commissioner Pritchard, to approve the 2027 Police Budget with a monthly cost of $140,461.33. There was no public comment. Motion Carried."

Twelve months at that rate comes to $1,685,535.96 a year. That is our arithmetic; the minutes give only the monthly figure. The minutes do not say how the 2027 cost compares with what the township pays in 2026, how many officers the budget funds, or how the department's costs are divided among the member towns.

The yearly figure lines up with a number in a neighboring town's paperwork. Boyertown Borough Council's Oct. 5 agenda (p. 1) carried a motion to approve the same department's 2027 budget "in the amount of $3,554,248; Borough's proportionate share is $1,685,536." That matches Colebrookdale's monthly cost times 12 to within four cents. Neither document explains the match. If each figure is one member's share of the $3,554,248 total, the remaining roughly $183,000 would fall to a third member (Bechtelsville, as of the 2020 launch), but no posted document says how the shares are set. Boyertown's minutes from Oct. 5 are not yet posted, so we cannot say whether the borough approved its share. We covered the borough's agenda in our Boyertown Oct. 5 preview.

Two weeks earlier, on Sept. 8, the board took a related police vote with a smaller number attached. It approved a 2027 minimum municipal obligation of $0.00 for the township's police pension fund, those minutes show (p. 3). A minimum municipal obligation, or MMO, is the amount state law requires a town to put into an employee pension plan each year. The Sept. 8 minutes list "Nothing to report" under the police heading, so the 2027 budget was first presented to the board on Sept. 21 as far as the posted record shows.

For context on what the township collects, Colebrookdale's township property tax is 5.5 mills, per our guide to property tax rates by municipality. The posted documents do not say whether the 2027 police cost will change that rate; the township's 2027 budget talks are just starting (see below).

A rewritten rule for door-to-door sellers

The board adopted Ordinance 2-2026, the Peddling and Solicitation Ordinance. A peddling ordinance sets the rules for people who go door to door to sell goods or ask for donations, such as whether they need a township permit and when they may knock. The township already has such rules: its codified ordinances include a chapter on peddling and soliciting, and the township's ordinance and fee schedule page posts a 2009 soliciting ordinance. So the new ordinance replaces or amends existing rules rather than creating them, and the minutes do not say what changed. The minutes (p. 2) say the solicitor had advertised the ordinance and it was "ready to be adopted," then record: "On a motion by Commissioner Pritchard, seconded by Commissioner Bartman, to adopt Ordinance 2-2026 the Peddling and Solicitation Ordinance. There was no public comment. Motion carried."

The minutes do not describe what the ordinance requires, and the ordinance text was not among the documents posted on the township's agendas and minutes page as of Oct. 16. Residents who want the details can ask the township office for a copy. It is the second ordinance the board has adopted this fall: on Sept. 8 it adopted Ordinance 1-2026, called the Manager's Ordinance in those minutes (p. 2) and "the revised Manager Ordinance" in the Aug. 17 minutes (p. 2); neither describes its contents.

$37,237.97 for firefighters' relief

A Volunteer Fire Relief Association is a fund, separate from the fire company itself, that pays for things like insurance, training, and equipment for volunteer firefighters. Pennsylvania sends each municipality a yearly allotment for its relief association, and the local government votes to pass the money through. The minutes (p. 3) say the township's 2026 allotment arrived in the amount of $37,237.97, and the board voted to release it: "On a motion by Commissioner Pritchard and seconded by Commissioner Bartman, to approve the release of the Volunteer Fire Relief Association funds in the amount of $37,237.97. There was no public comment. Motion carried." The minutes do not name the association that receives the money.

Under the commissioners' report, the board also received the Fire Commissioner Report, meeting minutes, treasurer's report and operating and capital reserve reports from BAF&R, which the minutes do not spell out (p. 2). Boyertown Borough's finance committee agendas use the same initials for a fire-truck purchase, and none of the Boyertown council or committee agendas posted since September, nor the Colebrookdale minutes, spells the initials out.

Also at the meeting

• Bills. The board approved payment of $46,286.25 from the general fund, $1,500.00 from the recycling fund and $14,220.51 from the payroll fund (p. 1).
• A new hire, not yet named. After an executive session on personnel at 7 p.m., the board authorized Township Manager Todd Gamler to offer the administrative assistant job to a candidate discussed in that closed session, at a pay rate set there, with the person's name and pay to be ratified at the next public meeting (p. 3). An executive session is a closed meeting that Pennsylvania's Sunshine Act allows for a short list of topics, including hiring.
• Library. Sami Jo Trout, director of the Boyertown Library, gave a 2026 update on funding, programs, fundraisers and building upgrades and thanked the board for its support (p. 1).
• Walking trail. Commissioner William Spade asked about a meeting on the walking trail at the Residence of Boyertown. Board President James Davidheiser and Manager Gamler attended and were shown a possible relocation of the trail; the developer is to present the change at a future meeting (p. 2). The Oct. 5 agenda lists "Justin Kuhn Pa Senior Living Walking Trail" under public participation, which appears to be that follow-up.
• Stormwater. Solicitor Christopher Hartman asked whether the state Department of Environmental Protection had written back about a stormwater issue at 650 S. Reading Ave.; Township Engineer Stephen Tabakelis said nothing had arrived (p. 3). On Sept. 8, the engineer had prepared a map and summary of the problem for the solicitor to review before sending to DEP (Sept. 8 minutes, p. 2).
• County bridge. The township received notice of a Chapter 105 permit application, the state permit needed for work in or near a stream, for work on County Bridge 40A on Swamp Creek Road (p. 2).
• Code enforcement. Permit applications came in for a monopole tower equipment update at 355 Englesville Rd., fences at 48 Red Oak Dr. and 31 Elaine Dr., solar at 32 Alans Ln. and an addition at 949 N. Reading Ave. A notice of violation went to 8 Barb Ln. for an unfenced pool, and a decibel reading at 200 Indian Spring Rd. after a noise complaint came in under the limit (p. 2).
• Attendance. Commissioners Davidheiser, Linwood Bartman, Spade and Matthew Pritchard were present; Jack Smith was absent. Bartman abstained from approving the previous regular meeting's minutes, which the Sept. 21 minutes date "August 24, 2026" (p. 1); the township's schedule and the posted minutes show that meeting was Aug. 17, a meeting Bartman missed. The meeting ran from 7:41 to 8:32 p.m. (pp. 1, 4).

A note on the record: the Sept. 21 minutes are signed by the township manager and were listed for approval on the board's Oct. 5 agenda (item 4a). The Oct. 5 minutes are not yet posted, so we cannot confirm the board approved them as written.

What happens next

Oct. 5 meeting (held; minutes not yet posted). The agenda included ratifying the administrative assistant hire under old business, a solicitor's item to "Authorize to Advertise Public Hearing for Ordinance Adoption" that does not name the ordinance, a quote for tree work and a discussion of trees in the right of way, notices of violation at 30 Elaine Dr., 54 Lindy Ln. and 8 Barb Ln., a DEP MS4 inspection report (MS4 is the state stormwater permit program for towns with storm sewers), and winterizing the pavilion.

2027 budget. The board held a budget meeting on Monday, Oct. 12, at 7 p.m. Its one-page agenda covered 2027 general fund revenue and expenses, 2027 road projects, a trench drain on Fortress Drive, a salt shed, and the township's other funds (recycling, street light, liquid fuels, non-restricted fee, impact fee, capital reserve, HRA and recreation). The agenda gives no dollar figures, and no notes from the meeting are posted.

Planning Commission. The township's Planning Commission met Thursday, Oct. 15, with five plans on its agenda: a minor subdivision at 733 Englesville Road (Kelly Frain), a preliminary/final plan for 933 N. Reading Avenue with a request to extend the review deadline to Dec. 21, the Weisstown Preserve preliminary plan, the Madison Walk subdivision final plan (action due by Nov. 30), and the Global Metals land development preliminary plan (action due Dec. 17). Earlier this year the township was among six drafting data-center zoning rules; see our six-townships report.

Next regular meeting: Monday, Oct. 19, 7:30 p.m. All Board of Commissioners meetings are held at the Colebrookdale Township Municipal Building, 765 W. Philadelphia Ave., Boyertown, per the township's meeting dates page. The agenda for Oct. 19 was not posted as of Oct. 16; it should appear on the agendas and minutes page. The Oct. 5 agenda lists public participation near the start of the meeting and again at the end for people "NOT SIGNED IN." The township office can be reached at 610-369-1362. Remaining 2026 meetings are Nov. 2, Nov. 16, Dec. 7 and Dec. 21.