Whitehall Township Mayor Edward D. Hozza Jr. on Monday presented the "State of the Township Report 2013."

The report reflected on progress and issues the township dealt with in 2012. The report also addressed the future goals of township departments, including a study involving the replacement and construction of a new police station.

"The years 2012 and 2013 will be remembered as the years of 'Road and Sewer Construction.' The construction is a visible reminder of what taxes are used for," said Hozza.

Stating the mission in Whitehall Township is to provide taxpayers the highest quality of services at the lowest cost, the mayor added, "To fulfill our mission, we rely heavily on a township property tax, earned income tax, business privilege tax and garbage fees."

Township officials made 'tough decisions' over the last several years toward reducing expenses and increasing revenue, Hozza said.

"Sound familiar? It's what the President and Congress need to do before the end of this year and hopefully when you read this report, our elected federal officials made the right, tough decisions."

The township's top expense item is salaries and benefits. In order to control those costs, in 2012, the township continued its nonuniform hiring freeze. The mayor expects this to continue in 2013.

"As I mentioned in a past State of the Township report, the township is not immune from the upcoming 'Gray Tsunami,'" Hozza said. "The reality is that a good percentage of our current workforce is over 55 years of age. In 2013, we will have three employees who will celebrate 40 years with Whitehall Township. As our employees begin to retire, we have to plan for the future so that their skill sets are shared with the next generation of township staff."

Hozza outlined the future goals for the various departments.

· Administration: This department needs to upgrade the administrative computer server, continue a paperless initiative and examine new financial and local government software.

· Police: A study will look at the replacement and construction of a new police station that will improve the efficiency over the current multilevel building.

· Fire: Firefighters need to get back on track with the fire truck replacement program and examine creating a position for a full-time fire marshal whose job responsibilities will be yearly fire safety inspections of all commercial residential units, retail, restaurants and other commercial businesses.

· Emergency management: This department needs to create a mobile command post by retrofitting the inside of a former 16-passenger school bus, roll out the emergency notification system, create an emergency contact database for all commercial property and business owners in the township and set up warning stations in township community centers in the event of prolonged power outages.

· Public works: This group will continue the road construction program and replace heavy equipment.

· Parks and recreation: This department needs to get all township athletic associations and organizations to sign a yearly lease/license agreement when occupying township owned property, examine what programs can be offered to the senior population and begin a feasibility study to examine the extent of improvement needed at the three township outdoor swimming pools.

· Planning, zoning, development: The department will be improving efficiencies through the purchase of new software, moving forward with paperless initiative and work on the Northern Tier study findings.