Why create a new borough?

 There isn't any one answer to this as it may be different for everyone, but one constant is that we are all responsible for making our communities a safe and desirable place to live. Long term residents have seen that the quality of life in the area has drastically decreased, creating a separate government entity as a borough will allow focus on the issues facing the community. 

 

 

 

What happens to the rest of Donegal township?

Life goes on as usual, the amount of tax revenue lessened is easily countered with the lessened amount of expenses of handling the west alexander area. 

 

 

Who would be in the newly formed borough?

If you have city water and or sewage, with the exception of a few plots near West Finley and West Virginia, you will be in the new borough boundaries. (see map on about page).  This takes the cost and responsibility of the water/sewage away from Donegal therefore benefiting the remaining Donegal Township and Allowing the new borough who uses those services to make appropriate decisions om them. 

 

 

 

Why did west alexander merge into Donegal in the first place?

In 2009 west alexander borough dissolved and became a part of neighboring Donegal Township. What a lot of people don't realize is at that time West Alexander was extremely small and only consisted of the center of main st and a few other streets. This gave the borough a small tax base and it struggled to maintain a balanced budget. 

 

 

 

How could west alexander borough financially survive being independent?

The new borough would be larger and include a expanded area beyond the original borough. The boundaries were created by extending to the properties which have water and sewage. This expansion tax base would be enough to comfortably run the community. The proposed/example budget shows that is done without any ACT 13, Liquid Fuels, or other grants.  Those options change year to year for every township/borough. We felt it was important to not include any of those amounts in the example budget as they are never a guarantee for ANY township ever.

 

 

 

What about the fire department?

Nothing really changes to the coverage of the fire department. 

 

 

 

What about the police department?

The current police department is under Donegal Township.  The decision of police coverage will be up to the elected town council to decide.