The Banks Township supervisors thought they were starting 2014 with a $21,000 surplus.

Instead, they are just a few dollars away from a deficit.The township supervisors approved a final 2014 budget for $275,110 at a special meeting Monday night that calls for maintaining the township's 1.1-mill property tax rate.But new Supervisor Charles Schalles, who doubles as the township secretary-treasurer, said when the current board got township records, they found $19,000 in unpaid bills from 2013."Nothing was paid after Dec. 18 (2013)," Schalles said.Former supervisor Theresa Shott said Mauch Chunk Trust Co., the former township depository which also acted as township treasurer, paid the bills for the supervisors' previous administration.Lee Zink, a trust officer for Mauch Chunk Trust, said some township bills were pre-authorized by the supervisors and were paid automatically, and some were not."There were other bills that had to be sent to us that required supervisors' authorization," Zink said. "These bills apparently never got sent down."Shott pointed out when she took her seat as a supervisor at the beginning of 2012, there were unpaid bills from 2011 the supervisors paid.The other former supervisor, Walter Bobowski, responded to the situation by saying the township "had $18,000 to $20,000 in bills to pay every month," and hung up the telephone.Former solicitor Joseph A. Woitko declined comment.Supervisor Joe Clark said the funding problem will not cause the township to take any loans, as earned income tax revenue soon will start to come in."It's going to be a little tight. We can't live in the penthouse now, but we'll be alright," he said.Clark said the supervisors will look for help from grants wherever possible. One potential source is Carbon County's federal Community Development Block Grant. County Commissioner William O'Gurek raised that possibility at the township's reorganization meeting earlier this month."I've started inquiring into the process (of applying for grants)," Clark said. "Whatever is out there, we will apply for."One area where the township may have to rely on grants is road repair.Supervisor Rick Porpiglia said the supervisors will look at township roads and make a list of those that have to be repaired when the weather breaks.The $275,110 spending plan includes the $21,000 carryover from 2013.Porpiglia said the former board majority spent $82,000 more than the township took in during 2013, but had a surplus that at one time was $127,000.The largest source of income in the spending plan is the EIT, which is valued at $91,000. Some of that tax comes from employees who work in the McAdoo Industrial Park, which is situated entirely in Banks Township. Approximately 335 people work in eight industries in the park.Schalles said the township also gets half the EIT from township residents who work elsewhere.The next-largest source of income is the garbage collection fee, which will bring in an estimated $82,000 this year. Schalles said the township's first property tax payment of $165 due in April goes to pay workers to pick up the garbage, the loan on the garbage packer and the fuel to run it.On the spending side of the ledger, the largest line item is operating expenses, including garbage collection at $52,000. That money goes to tipping fees at the landfill, Schalles said. The other $30,000 associated with garbage collection is payments on the truck, labor and fuel.The next-largest expense is highways, at $50,400. General expenses are anticipated to cost $49,668. Public safety, including a crossing guard, zoning, code enforcement, 911 and all firefighting-related expenses, are budgeted at $45,241.Municipal property expenses are listed at $11,000 and tax collection at $7,500.The budget is identical to the tentative budget the supervisors approved when they reorganized Jan. 6.Distributed by MCT Information Services