South Whitehall commissioners have reviewed a proposed new policy governing escrow payments for township services requested by residents.

At the Oct. 17 meeting, Director of Administration Tony Ganguzza offered comments on the proposal.

"This is a brand new agreement and policy drafted by Solicitor Joseph Zator," Ganguzza said. "We want to have policies and agreements ready for people when they come in requesting things such as street vacation."

Currently, professionals are paid by the township through the general fund and are later reimbursed by developers or the residents who have made the requests.

The new policy lists escrow fees to cover services of Zator, the Pidcock firm, and geo-technical engineers based on staff time.

The proposed policy has two components: issue other than subdivision and land development, and matters relating to subdivision and land development.

In both cases, the applicant would complete an escrow agreement before the township begins any work on the item.

The purpose of the escrow is to reimburse the township for costs incurred by addressing the applicant's request. These might include advertising expenses, filing fees, postage and all professional services required to follow through on the issue.

"Residents come and ask for action, and sometimes these requests are quite expensive," Zator said. "This policy covers overhead of the township."

Staff will not take final action on any application governed by the policy unless all fees and expenses have been paid and sufficient escrow has been provided.

Funds remaining in the escrow account will be returned to the applicant upon request after all staff work has been completed and township expenses have been paid or if the individual withdraws the application and costs have been taken care of.

Examples of non-subdivision land development fees include: zoning officer preliminary opinion $500, initial escrow $2,000; road vacation $500, initial escrow $5,000; parking lot lighting review $150, initial escrow $750; rezoning or zoning ordinance amendment $1,000, initial escrow $5,000.

Under subdivision and land development, examples include: residential minor subdivision $1,000 fee, initial escrow $5,000 per lot or unit; residential major subdivision preliminary plans $2,000 plus $50 per lot, $1,000 per lot initial escrow, $10,000 minimum; non-residential preliminary subdivision $2,000 plus $50 per lot, initial escrow $1,000 per lot, $5,000 minimum.

The proposed policy will be brought back to commissioners for a vote at a future meeting.