The East Nottingham Township Board of Supervisors have approved a proposed budget for 2019, and it is all but certain that the township will keep its millage rate at zero for another year.

The supervisors discussed the spending plan at a special budget meeting on Oct. 23, and again at the regular township meeting on Nov. 13.

Suzanne Hamlin, the township treasurer, said that the $6.6 million proposed budget has a slight year-to-year increase in expenditures, but the township won’t need to increase taxes to balance the budget.

On the revenue side, East Nottingham's total income plus cash on hand for 2019 is $6,667,887, and on the expenditure side the proposed expenses plus the amount allocated for 2019 is $6,667,887.

The millage rate has been zero since 2005, Hamlin said.

Township supervisor Sam Goodley explained that when the township added an earned-income tax and a tax specifically designated for funds for open space preservation, township officials then reduced the millage rate to zero to offset those increases.

The proposal for 2019 is to keep the earned-income tax and open-space tax at a combined 1.25 percent—East Nottingham Township has an Earned Income Tax of 1%, while the open space tax is set at .25%. The earned-income tax is divided between the township (.5%) and the Oxford Area School District (.5%). The .5% EIT received by East Nottingham Township is used for the general operation of the township.

The 2019 spending plan will be advertised and is currently available at the township building for the public to review. The supervisors are expected to adopt the final budget at its meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 11 at 7 p.m.

In other business at the meeting, the board of supervisors approved the advertisement for a request for proposal for the position of solicitor, which could lead to the selection of a new solicitor in 2019.

Larry Welsch, the executiver director of the Chester County Food Bank, briefly outlined a plan for the organization to locate a second facility in southern part of the county. The Chester County Food Bank is interested in a property in East Nottingham, and the plan would be to build a 40,000 square-foot facility at that location. The Chester County Food Bank distributes about three million pounds of food annually to residents in need in the county, and the new location in the southern part of the county would increase the organization's ability to get food to people in need.

The East Nottingham Township Board of Supervisors will meet again on Tuesday, Dec. 11.