§ 21.12-1210. Financial Limitations.

 A. Limitations on Taxation.

   1. Real Estate. The Board shall not impose a tax on real estate in excess of the aggregate amount permitted by the state statutes which would limit the Board with regard thereto in the absence of this Charter, except that only with the approval of an absolute two-thirds vote the Board may:

     a. utilize that taxing power which would otherwise be permitted only upon court approval.

     b. utilize for any purpose proper under this Charter any taxing power which would otherwise be restricted to specific purposes.

   2. Other Sources of Taxation. As to all other sources of taxation, the Board shall be limited as to sources and rates by any applicable state statue which would govern the Board in the absence of this Charter.

 B. Limitations on Borrowing.

   The Board shall be governed in the incurring, refunding and repayment of debt by the substantive and procedural provisions of the Local Government Unit Debt Act of 1972 (Act 185 of 1972); provided, however, that the limitations as to the amount of debt shall be increased from time to time to the full extent of debt which would be permitted to the Township by all applicable state statutes in the absence of this Charter.

   Commentary: : In general, the Charter does not enlarge the taxing ability or the borrowing ability of Cheltenham’s Board of Commissioners. It does eliminate the current requirement that the Board petition the Court for some part of its real estate taxing authority, substituting for that requirement the necessity that the change be made by an absolute two-thirds vote of the Board. In essence, this provision provides a greater guarantee against the use of the additional taxing authority since it is more difficult to obtain an absolute two-thirds vote under the Charter than it is currently to obtain a mere majority vote of the quorum of the Board in attendance at a meeting in order to authorize the application to a Court and the fairly routine approval which normally results thereafter. The provision permitting the Board to shift to general purposes taxing authority made available only for special purposes under the First Class Township Code, upon approval of an absolute two-thirds of the Board, provides greater protection that the Board will not fully utilize specific taxing authority for the purpose specified in situations where it would prefer to utilize a portion of that taxing authority for items of greater priority.

   As the text makes clear, the borrowing limitations are precisely those already applicable to the Township pursuant to the Local Government Unit Debt Act of 1972.