Marion Township Police Fee Set to Rise to $70,560 in 2027

Marion Township's police bill is set to go up on Jan. 1. The township, which buys police coverage from Tulpehocken Township's department, is looking at an increase the agenda labels 7.5% that would take the yearly fee from $65,520 to $70,560 in 2027, according to the workshop agenda the supervisors took up Oct. 22. The same agenda sets the table for the 2027 budget, with the real estate tax rate printed at 4.75 mills and no proposed change, and notes that the township's trash contract with J.P. Mascaro ends in April 2027.

The Board of Supervisors holds its regular meeting Thursday, Oct. 29, at 7 p.m. Marion is a farming township in western Berks County that takes in the villages of Stouchsburg and Charming Forge, per the township's history page; its students attend the Conrad Weiser Area School District. The township office is at 4023 Conrad Weiser Parkway, Stouchsburg, 610-589-2860.

Marion has posted a workshop agenda the Thursday before each regular meeting since March with the figures the board then votes on. As of Friday morning the Agenda Center listed nothing for Oct. 29, so page numbers below refer to the workshop agenda.

The police fee: $5,040 more a year, by the yearly figures

Item 24 reads: "Tulpehocken Township PD- Police services increase as of January 1, 2027. / Currently: $65, 520.00; a cost of $5,400.00 per month / New: $70,560.00: $ 5,880.00 / 7.5% Increase" (p. 3). The agenda gives no reason for the increase and no contract term, and we could not find a Tulpehocken Township website to check the other side of the deal. Earlier agendas show the arrangement is a written agreement with at least three prior addenda, and a fourth was before the board this summer: the July 23 and Aug. 20 workshop agendas listed, under the Alden On Sixth development, "Adoption of Resolution to approve 4th addendum to the police service with Tulpehocken Township Police Department," and the Aug. 20 agenda added "Motion needed to update Resolution number from 2026-4 to 2026-6." The May 28 minutes say that development's intergovernmental agreement "must contain a provision requiring Tulpehocken PS to provide police coverage for the entire development." Whether the new development explains the higher fee is not stated anywhere in the record.

The printed figures do not all agree. The new fee works: $5,880 a month times 12 is $70,560. But $5,400 a month times 12 is $64,800, not $65,520, and $70,560 is 7.7% more than $65,520 by our arithmetic, not 7.5%. The monthly figures are an 8.9% jump. By the yearly figures the increase is $5,040 a year; by the monthly figures it is $480 a month, or $5,760 a year. ($65,520 divided by 12 is $5,460, not $5,400.) For scale, Colebrookdale Township approved a $140,461.33-a-month regional police budget for 2027 last month, per our recap; Marion's whole yearly fee is about half of one month there.

The tax rate, and what is still blank

Item 21 reads: "2027 Tax Rate: Current real estate tax millage is 4.75. The street light tax millage is 0.65. The sewer levy (on-lot septic system inspection fee) is $50.00" (p. 2). The agenda prints no proposed change to any of the three. Item 20, "2027 Budget-", is blank (p. 2). Item 22 notes the 2027 Municipal Tax Sheet is "Due to Berks County by December 24th" (p. 3).

A mill is $1 of tax for every $1,000 of assessed value, so 4.75 mills is $475 a year on a home assessed at $100,000, and the 0.65-mill street light tax is another $65 where it applies. Those are the township's shares only. Our guide to Berks County tax rates by municipality lists Marion at 4.750 municipal mills for 2026, matching the agenda, with 37.446 school mills and a combined total of 51.209 mills. The township's own tax collector page, which still shows 2024 sitting dates, lists "Township mills - 2.75" and a street light charge of "$0.65 per front foot" rather than a millage, alongside a county rate of 7.657 mills, well below the 9.013 mills the county charges for 2026 after increases in 2024 and 2025, per our guide; the page appears out of date, and the agenda's figures are the newer record.

One revenue line is filled in. Item 19 lists Liquid Fuels for 2027 at $96,833.46, up from $94,778.23 in 2026, a gain of $2,055.23 (p. 2). Liquid Fuels is state road money: PennDOT's Municipal Liquid Fuels Program "funds projects to support the construction, reconstruction, maintenance, and repair of public roads or streets," with each town's share "based on its population and miles of roads on its approved liquid fuels inventory."

Trash: Mascaro contract ends April 2027

Item 25 reads: "Trash- JP Mascaro contract ends April 2027. Stonecroft has signed a new contract with Republic" (p. 3). The agenda does not say who or what Stonecroft is, and the township website does not either. The township's trash page says J.P. Mascaro became the hauler on April 2, 2024. The Sept. 24 agenda carried the same end date without naming a next step (p. 4), and the Aug. 27 agenda listed a "Meeting August 31st with JPM to discuss upcoming end of contract." Earl Township faced the same decision this month with a $648,000 three-year contract, per our preview.

A collapsing culvert on Forge Road

Under road issues (item 7, p. 2), the agenda lists three culverts, each tied to a grant year:

• Forge Road: a "60” corrugated steel pipe culvert rusted and collapsing on East side." The township counted cars, says the road "should qualify" for a 2027 DGLVR grant, and has its engineer, Kraft Municipal Group, "working on finalizing a cost estimate for funding application."
• Church Road at the Brubaker store: three 24-inch concrete pipes whose "headwalls are starting to separate from piped," slated for a 2028 grant.
• Wintersville Road, north of School Road at the township line: a 24-inch steel pipe "partially collapsed and sink hole in the road near North bound shoulder," slated for 2029.

DGLVR is the state's Dirt, Gravel, and Low Volume Road Maintenance Program, a State Conservation Commission grant that county conservation districts hand out locally. "Low Volume Roads are sealed or paved with an average daily traffic count of 500 vehicles or less," the program page says, which is why the township counted cars.

Development items

Alden On Sixth (item 10, p. 2), the development whose police coverage is described above, brings three actions: "Adopt Resolution (2026-8) for Intergovernmental Agreement with Heidelberg Township," approval of a "Proposed HOA Declaration & Certificate of Substantial Completion," and authorizing "Municipal Improvements and Stormwater Management Agreements." The agenda does not say what the Heidelberg agreement covers; the May 28 minutes say it must require Tulpehocken police coverage for the whole development. Also listed: a recommended "Release #1 -Final" of $39,369.00 in escrow for Blue Spruce at 4405 Conrad Weiser Parkway (item 8), and an extension for the Luke Troutman agricultural operation "till January 18,2027" (item 14).

A litigation item the board will not discuss

Item 28 reads: "Bollinger Road-Fill Overflow Matter & Agreement -No discussion on this item due to possible litigation" (p. 3). The agenda header also notes an "Executive session was held at September Meeting from 8:42pm to 9:02pm to discuss Potential Litigation" (p. 1). The state Sunshine Act lets a board meet privately over litigation, but "Official action on discussions held" there "shall be taken at an open meeting" (65 Pa.C.S. § 708(c)). The agenda says nothing more.

Also on the agenda

• Grants (p. 1): $56,116 awarded Oct. 22, 2024, for an emergency management trailer; $38,134 the same day for "Tulpehocken Police Protective Tactical and Communications Equipment"; and $69,557.00 for low-pressure sewer designs, with $11,313.50 left (the Sept. 24 agenda printed the same award as $69,570.00). The 2026 LSA Statewide window, state gaming money distributed through the Commonwealth Financing Authority, is open through Nov. 30; a pole building is "on hold due to applying for LSA Grant" (item 30).
• The township is "Still accepting letters of support for the proposed sewer" (p. 1).
• Main Street speeding: review of an LTAP report (item 23).
• Reorganization meeting Monday, Jan. 4, at 7 p.m., and the elected auditors Tuesday, Jan. 5, at 7 p.m.; a motion is needed to set and advertise the dates (item 26).
• Bercek & Associates will survey the township building Nov. 2 (item 1); the 2004 F550 is headed to Municibid pending a transmission repair quote (item 2).

How to attend

The board meets Thursday, Oct. 29, at 7 p.m., per the township calendar. The Board of Supervisors page, whose meeting listing still shows a December 2022 date, gives the Municipal Building, 420 Water Street; the state Office of Open Records lists that address as "420 Water Street, Stouchsburg, PA 19567," while every page footer puts the township at 4023 Conrad Weiser Parkway, Stouchsburg, and the calendar entry says only "Womelsdorf, PA 19567." Whether the two addresses are the same building is not stated. Call 610-589-2860 to confirm; the office is open Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., and closed Fridays. Meetings are audio and video recorded; to speak, sign in, come to the microphone and state your name and address (p. 1). The officials page, headed 2023, lists Peter McCarthy as chairman, Jesse Hafer as vice chair and Dennis Warner as the third supervisor. For meeting dates across the county, see our guide to finding your township or borough meeting schedule.