Voter Referendum Not Possible for Community Center Project

Montgomery Township Solicitor Frank Bartle informed the public Monday that — while it has been a suggestion at the behest of few residents — a referendum on the November 2013 ballot on whether a township community center should be built is not possible, according to The Reporter.

Bartle told the public Monday that a binding referendum must be laid out by statute, which indicated “what matters need to be by binding referendum.”

“This is not one of those matters,” Bartle said in the article by Dan Sokil.

A public library question was the issue of a previous referendum vote, but that was subject to a referendum by state law. The potential community center is not an issue subject to a referendum by state law, according to the article.

Nonbinding referendums are not part of Pennsylvania law, Bartle said in the article.

“It is not permissible to require that the county place a nonbinding referendum … on the ballots,” Bartle said in the article.

Residents feared a $9 million to $11 million community center would boost taxes by as much as $1,200 per taxpayer, according to the article. Supervisors said the time to borrow is now, as interest rates are very attractive, according to the article.

Township Manager Larry Gregan said in December that Montgomery Township would request a better bond rating of AA+ from Standard & Poor — and that’s exactly what has happened, as announced Monday.

According to another article by Sokil, the township can proceed with a $10 million bond borrowing for the community center.

Gregan said at the meeting that the AA+ rating is “very high” for a municipality and is behind the highest rating of AAA, according to the article. Lower Merion Township is the only municipality in the state with a AAA rating.

The $10 million bond would fund the construction of the center and refinance $5.5 million in borrowing from 2012 that purchased the property and the Zehr tract at Windlestrae Park, according to the article.