Hempfield Township and the Hempfield Area School District rang in the new year to the tune of more than $1 million in unanticipated revenues.
Each will receive approximately $530,000 in real-estate transfer taxes to kick-start 2003, thanks to the recent sale of Westmoreland Mall.
CBL & Associates Properties Inc. paid $111 million to acquire the 25-year-old mall. A check-bearing representative of the Chattanooga, Tenn.-based company visited the Westmoreland County Recorder of Deeds Office on New Year's Eve to finalize the sale.
Tom Murphy, recorder of deeds, said the mall sale is believed to be the largest land transaction in the county's history. He said the real-estate transfer taxes it generated surpassed those collected for all other such transactions combined in Hempfield last year.
"It's an entire year of taxes on their own," Murphy said. "I collected $569,000 in real-estate transfer taxes for the year, so it's a substantial amount."
Murphy also pointed out the windfall is slightly more than the $500,000 that 1 mill in real estate taxes generates for the township. Supervisors this week passed a $10 million budget that holds millage at 3.
Elected school and township officials said they were pleased to learn of their good fortune.
"That's the best Christmas present we could ask for," said school board member Maria DiPiazza.
DiPiazza cautioned against spending the money too quickly.
"I'd like to see us use this money to help give the taxpayers of Hempfield Township a break on taxes," DiPiazza said. "We should put this money in a lockbox so we can keep a lid on escalating taxes."
Alan Berk, a school board member and chairman of the finance committee, said higher insurance premiums, lower interest rates on investments and rising costs of various state and federal mandates point to a possible tax increase next year. He said the money could help lessen any such increase.
Board members Kim Fait and Lillian Fisher said some of the money could be used for existing programs. Fisher said she would like to spend some of it on curriculum.
On the township side, supervisors Bob Regola Jr. and Doug Weimer suggested earmarking some of the money for water and sewer projects. Weimer said the extra cash will come in handy to help pay for current services, as well.
"It's a nice little cushion we'll have in the budget," Weimer said. "We can use it to improve services we have while keeping taxes low."
Regola also said some funds could go toward making repairs and improvements to township buildings. Another project could be the creation of an Internet Web site for the township.
Supervisor Sam Testa suggested putting some of the money toward road and bridge projects. Some also could be used to improve fire and emergency services.
Looking toward the township's future needs, Supervisor Paul Reed said the money could be spent on real estate.
"We need to look at large tracts of lands that could be multifunctional," Reed said. "As this area keeps developing and growing, we'll need more parks and recreation areas."
Hempfield Township and the school district aren't the sole beneficiaries of taxes and fees generated by the sale of the mall. Murphy said the state picked up $1.1 million in taxes, while the county collected $37,000 in fees.
