Cost of Community Services: Shrewsbury Township

COCS Findings:

• In Shrewsbury Township, residential properties generated $10,337,981 in revenues to cover service costs of $12,602,556. Comparing revenues to expenditures shows that residential land use had a deficit $2,264,575, which was covered by a $2,225,323 surplus from commercial/industrial development and $363,240 from farm, forest, and open land.
• While 77 percent of revenue in 2000 was generated by residential land uses, 19.7 percent was generated by commercial land uses, and 3.3 percent by farm/forest/open land;
• Fully 96.3 percent of the township’s expenditures went towards services for residential land use, compared with only 3.1 percent for commercial/ industrial uses and .6 percent for farm, forest, and open land.
• In other words, in fiscal year 2000 for every $1of revenue generated by residential property in Shrewsbury Township, $1.22 was spent providing services to those lands. For every $1 received from commercial and business land uses in the township, only $0.15 was spent to provide services. For every $1 received from farm/forest/open land uses in the township, only $0.17 was spent providing services.
• Revenue from farms is relatively low because of the Commonwealth’s Clean and Green program. Yet revenues were not so low that farm land/open space does not provide a surplus