January 20, 2021 – UNT Supervisors Meeting
Supervisor Comments
Donna Hirst pointed out that the former Township Supervisor E.J. Mentry used to put out a recap of the budget and requested Lisa Klem write one and publish it on the website and in the newsletter.
Your Tax Dollars at Work
The Supervisors debated three requests from Tax Collector Tracy Adamski for additional compensation.
A request from Ms. Adamski to receive an additional $6,000 – $8,000 for preparing a separate bill for the Library Tax voters approved by referendum in the 2020 Primary. At the November 2020 meeting Ms. Adamski told the Supervisors that the Library Tax would have to be put onto a separate bill. I again pointed out that this was not correct—many municipalities in Northampton and Lehigh counties have a Library tax and not one of them issues a separate bill. The tax is included in either the municipal bill or school tax. A Right-to-Know request I filed showed that Ms. Adamski presented no documentation to the Supervisors to back up her claim that a separate bill was required.
Scott Sylvanius said that a company like Keystone would only charge around $4,000 to collect the tax and Ms. Adamski’s compensation should be in line with that. Another resident called in to say that the citizens of UNT voted for the Library Tax to give money to the Library, not the Tax Collector and that, in many municipalities, the Tax Collector doesn’t even receive a salary. Supervisors voted 3 to 2 (Sylvanius and Mullen against) to pay Ms. Adamski an additional $4,000 to collect the Library Tax with funds meant to support the Library.
Supervisors voted 4 to 1 to raise the Tax Collectors salary 2% a year beginning in 2022. This would increase the salary from $12,960 to $13,996 over the new 4 year term.
No Supervisor motioned to move forward Ms. Adamski’s request to receive additional payments for doing certifications.
Approval in increase the pay of a Public Work’s employee.
Supervisors received information on the UNT Police purchasing Haenni Truck Scales which will be used to weigh trucks moving through the township. The choices are $30,000 for new scales with a 3 year warranty or $20,000 for used scales with no warranty.
UNT Police received a $5,000 grant to pay for body camera so there is no cost to the township for this item.
Activities
Approval for the Nazareth Clippers to hold a 5K race on May 29th.
Becky Bartlett reports on these meetings because citizens have a right to know what their government is doing.
Upper Nazareth Township Meetings 