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As local governments wrap up their end-of-year activities, keep an eye on the public meeting notices being published in the Mirror's classified advertising section.
Since September, local municipal leaders have been holding 2027 budget workshops where they discuss how to spend money and if they need more tax revenue. In addition to adopting 2027 budgets, they'll be designating dates and times for regularly scheduled meetings in 2027 and placing advertisements to alert the public, as required by the state's Sunshine Law.
Those who clip and retain these published governmental meeting notices will put themselves in a position to look for subsequent meeting agendas that local governments are required to post on their websites and at meeting locations at least 24 hours before a meeting begins. That's another Sunshine Law requirement.
While we recognize that local governmental meetings generally draw minimal attendance from local residents, we also recognize that hot-button issues will attract a crowd. That happened recently in Taylor Township after people learned of a company's interest in developing a data center on the grounds of the Appvion paper mill outside Roaring Spring. And it's happening now in Blair Township where residents are concerned about plans for a commercial egg farm with multiple buildings and 20,000 hens. The Mirror learned about the proposed egg farm in October, when supervisors placed a legal notice announcing a special meeting to discuss the matter.
During budget planning sessions, it's not usual to hear some leaders gripe about the cost of advertising their meetings which has increased like many other expenses. But money spent on public notice advertising buys a widespread notification system -- in print and online -- of pending actions and meetings where local governmental leaders will engage in discussions and make decisions affecting all local residents.
For that reason, we strongly encourage our readers to pay attention to the public meeting notices in our classified section, especially at this time of the year and into January. Clip and save the ones of interest to you or your neighbors. Even if you don't regularly attend local governmental meetings, put yourself in a position to know when your leaders are meeting and to find out what's on their next agenda. There could be an issue affecting you.