Cumru Township's Draft 2027 Budget Opens $923K in the Red

Cumru Township's first draft of its 2027 budget shows $923,263 more in general fund spending than revenue, and the two-page summary does not say how the township would cover the difference. The two-page summary, stamped "DRAFT" and dated Oct. 28, lists general fund revenue of $11,308,646 against expenses of $12,231,909. No tax rate appears anywhere on it. The commissioners take their first public look at the numbers Thursday, Nov. 5 at 6 p.m. at the township building, 1775 Welsh Road, Mohnton, in the first of three budget meetings this month, according to the agenda and the township homepage.

Alongside the budget, the township posted a draft capital improvement program that asks for $7,287,914 in equipment and construction spending in 2027 and $21,339,667 over five years, with more than half of next year's amount expected to come from grants that have not all been awarded.

All three documents went up on the township homepage Oct. 30. The township posted only the fund-by-fund summary; the line-item budget behind it is not online.

A $923,263 gap in the general fund

The general fund pays for police, road crews, codes enforcement, township buildings and administration. The summary breaks it into seven departments. Administration and Finance carries nearly all the revenue, $10,649,731, against its own expense of $1,331,006; the summary does not break revenue out by source. The other six departments spend far more than they bring in:

• Police: $394,140 revenue, $8,097,129 expense
• Public Works, Highway: $3,500 revenue, $1,952,534 expense
• Codes, Planning and Zoning: $261,275 revenue, $405,527 expense
• Buildings and Grounds: no revenue, $370,050 expense
• Parks and Recreation: no revenue, $55,019 expense
• Fire Police: no revenue, $20,645 expense

The same sheet prints 2026 figures next to the 2027 request, and the comparison explains the gap. General fund revenue grows by $141,956, from $11,166,690 to $11,308,646, about 1.3% by our arithmetic. Spending grows by $1,266,532, from $10,965,377 to $12,231,909, about 11.6%. On the 2026 columns the general fund showed revenue $201,313 above expense; on the 2027 columns it is $923,263 below.

Police is most of the increase. The police expense line rises from $7,222,461 to $8,097,129, up $874,668, or about 12%. Police spending is about two-thirds of everything the general fund pays for. The Highway department rises $227,992, from $1,724,542 to $1,952,534. The summary does not say what is behind either increase. The commissioners were asked Oct. 20 to adopt resolutions committing $1,191,804 to 2027 pension payments for the uniformed and non-uniformed plans, as our preview of that meeting reported; the township has not posted minutes of that meeting, and the summary does not show where those payments sit.

No tax rate on the page

The draft lists no millage, no tax rate and no fund balance. It shows a variance for each fund and nothing about how a negative one would be covered, whether from reserves, cuts, new revenue or a rate change. That is what the three budget meetings are for, and Thursday's agenda lists every budget item as "discussion," not a vote.

For context only: the county's 2026 tax rate table lists Cumru's municipal rate at 0.0065, or 6.5 mills, with a school rate of 34.61 mills and a combined rate of 50.123 mills including the county. Our guide to property tax rates by municipality lists the same figures, and our property tax explainer walks through what a mill is and how the three bills add up. Nothing in the draft says the township rate would change.

Trash, sewer and fire funds are also short

The general fund is one of 14 funds on the sheet. Across all of them, the draft shows revenue of $25,150,646 and expense of $26,947,746, a shortfall of $1,797,100. The 2026 columns also ran negative across all funds, $23,460,429 in revenue against $24,942,318 in expense, so a paper gap in the summary is not new for Cumru. The funds with the biggest gaps:

• Sewer Fund: $5,477,900 revenue, $6,329,018 expense, $851,118 short. Expense is up $204,459 from 2026; revenue is up $141,415.
• Refuse Collection Fund: $1,597,200 revenue, $2,057,862 expense, $460,662 short. Expense is up $309,761 from $1,748,101, about 18%, while revenue drops from $1,656,199. The commissioners gave A.J. Blosenski a four-year manual trash contract on Sept. 29, as our recap reported; the summary does not say whether the new contract drives the increase.
• Fire Tax Fund: $2,827,550 revenue, $3,084,837 expense, $257,287 short. Expense is up $314,082 from 2026.
• Fire Capital Fund: a new line with no 2026 figures, $10,060 revenue and $353,320 expense.
• On-lot sewage management (SMP) Fund: $76,900 revenue, $121,444 expense, $44,544 short.

Some funds run a surplus. The Sewer Capital Reserve Fund shows $2,114,551 in revenue against $1,250,200 in expense, $864,351 to the good, with revenue nearly tripling from $760,200 in 2026. The Ambulance Services Fund is $97,845 ahead, State Liquid Fuels $84,377, the Capital Bond Fund $18,941 and Debt Service $17,820. The Storm Water Fund balances at $10,300 each way.

Thursday's agenda, after the manager's presentation, walks through the general fund and administration, sewer, the on-lot sewage program, refuse and stormwater, then the capital program; the fire funds are not listed.

The $7.3 million capital plan

The capital improvement program is a separate document, a six-page draft that Finance Administrator Kathleen George sent to the board through Township Manager Terrence W. James in a memo dated Oct. 28. It lists 30 projects across five departments. The cover calls it "55% OF 2027 FUNDED BY GRANTS."

The 2027 request of $7,287,914 breaks down by department as follows: Public Works sewer $3,900,000 (53.5%), Administration $2,017,105 (27.7%), Public Works highway and streets $592,511 (8.1%), Fire $540,990 (7.4%), Police $187,308 (2.6%) and Recreation $50,000 (0.7%).

By funding source, the memo counts $2,685,470 in federal grants, $1,345,779 in state grants, $1,650,000 from the Sewer Fund, $1,128,016 from General Revenue, $310,000 from Liquid Fuels (the state gas-tax money townships get for roads), $116,877 in borrowing and $51,772 from a solar lease-purchase. The federal and state grants together are $4,031,249, the 55% on the cover.

The memo is candid about the risk. Under "Points for the Board's Consideration" it says a large share of the program "relies on grant applications," and that grant-funded projects "should move forward only as awards are confirmed; otherwise they would be deferred or brought back to the Board with an alternative funding source." It also flags the recurring commitments that "carry into future budgets": the fire engine lease, the police body camera agreement, the radio replacement and a proposed solar lease-purchase with "annual payments through 2037." The out-year amounts for 2028 through 2031 are "planning figures."

What the money would buy

The largest single item is the Angelica Interceptor, $2,950,000 in 2027 and $8,070,250 over the plan, for "three pumping stations and a new sewer interceptor." The memo says it is "funded largely by a federal Community Project grant"; the funding table shows $2,250,000 federal and $700,000 from the Sewer Fund next year, with $500,000 in prior authority already on the books and $2,888,051 and $2,232,199 planned for 2028 and 2029.

Sewer rehabilitation adds $950,000 from the Sewer Fund in 2027: $150,000 for structural lining on Fayne Street, $350,000 for the ongoing grouting and patching program, and $450,000 to stabilize the Angelica Creek streambank "that protects the sewer interceptor." Together with the interceptor, sewer work is $3.9 million of the $7.3 million request.

Roads get $592,511: $552,511 for the focus-roads paving program (split $270,000 Liquid Fuels and $282,511 state grant) and $40,000 for hot patching.

Police and fire items include:

• The county-wide radio replacement, $29,000 a year for police in 2027 through 2030 and $57,142 a year for fire through 2031, which the memo totals at $86,142 a year for both departments.
• The fire engine lease, "2 engines, 10-yr replacement plan," at $173,059 a year in 2026 through 2030.
• Turnout gear ($87,837) and thermal imaging cameras and gas meters ($61,180) through two awarded FEMA Assistance to Firefighters regional grants, $149,017 total, with $135,470 federal and $13,547 from General Revenue. The memo calls it 90% federally funded.
• Police body cameras at $37,918 a year, a $70,420 patrol vehicle paid by state grant, $14,000 for fitness room equipment and $35,970 for portable truck scales, also by state grant.
• Fire house furnishings $70,000, apparatus bay fans $25,000 and a floor machine $15,000.
• The solar energy system lease-purchase, $51,772 in 2027, then $473,490 in 2028 and roughly $54,000 to $57,000 a year through 2031, $691,745 over the plan.

The memo's public-safety figure, $676,526, is the police and fire subtotals ($187,308 plus $540,990, or $728,298) minus the $51,772 solar line, by our arithmetic.

Administration asks for $87,700 for the ERP financial software replacement, $35,000 for records scanning and digitizing (the only item besides the recreation plan match that is paid by borrowing), $8,650 for the township website, $72,000 for a grant consultant and $163,755 for a comprehensive recreation plan, half grant and half borrowed. Recreation adds $50,000 for a DCNR community conservation plan, half from a state grant.

Then there is the $1,650,000 economic development line: the Lancaster Pike Master Plan at $350,000, the Redevelopment Authority Capital Program at $1,000,000 and an EPA Brownfields assessment at $300,000. The memo describes all three as "shown as grant funded." The funding table on page 5 does not quite agree: it pays the master plan from a $350,000 state grant and the brownfields assessment from a $300,000 federal grant, but splits the Redevelopment Authority program $500,000 state grant and $500,000 General Revenue. The Redevelopment Authority line continues at $1,000,000 a year through 2030, $4,000,000 over the plan. The draft does not explain the difference between the memo and the table, and it is a fair question for Thursday.

How to attend and what comes next

The meeting is Thursday, Nov. 5 at 6 p.m. at 1775 Welsh Road, Mohnton, where the township's meeting schedule says all its meetings are held. Public comment is in person only. The agenda asks speakers to give a first name, last name and address, says comments without them "will not be considered," limits each person to three minutes and caps the comment period at 60 minutes unless the commissioners extend it. The meeting was advertised in the Reading Eagle on Oct. 9.

The board is President Andrew Donnell, Vice President Tonya L. Campbell and Commissioners Gregory A. Miller, Mark Ferrero and Lisha L. Rowe, per the township's Board of Commissioners page. The agenda marks the solicitor and engineer as excused.

Two more budget meetings follow, Nov. 12 and Nov. 19, both at 6 p.m., with the regular November meeting on Nov. 17 at 7 p.m. The Zoning Hearing Board's Nov. 24 meeting is canceled for lack of applications, and the Planning Commission next meets Dec. 7 at 6 p.m. The agenda does not say when the board expects to vote on a final budget.