Valencia, St. Barnabas looking to establish partnership to address emergency services costs
VALENCIA — The borough is in the middle of negotiations with St. Barnabas Health System on entering into a public-private partnership agreement — a contractually binding agreement in which the health system would pay for a certain percentage of the borough’s emergency services.
Borough manager Shanon McKenna said during a council meeting on Monday, April 13, he is working on setting up a meeting with representatives from the health system.
According to McKenna, while the two sides haven’t had a chance yet to meet and discuss the particulars of the proposal, St. Barnabas’ representatives have expressed interest.
“They are interested, but we need to come to some type of agreement on what should be in it,” McKenna said. “They’re actually interested in talking to us about it because their future is tied to our future, because they want to see us succeed as much as anyone else. How the borough looks and how it’s maintained is important to them and to their residents.”
McKenna added the need for an agreement with St. Barnabas is urgent, because the borough’s contract with the Adams Township Police Department to provide police services for the borough will expire at the end of 2026.
The contract was most recently renewed near the end of 2025, but only for one additional year. McKenna is targeting a three-year agreement with St. Barnabas, because that’s how long he expects Adams Township to ask for its next police contract with the borough to run.
“By June, we should be talking again about police services,” McKenna said. “(Adams Township is) going to want at least three years and we’d be locked into that if we signed something with them. If we don’t have funding through a PPP program, I think it would be unwise for Valencia Borough to commit to a long-term contract and not have the safety net of St. Barnabas to pay for that.”
If talks with St. Barnabas fall through, McKenna said the only option will be to fall back on coverage from state police.
“We would be obligated, I believe, to go to state police coverage,” McKenna said.
The need for an agreement with St. Barnabas is paramount because the health system owns roughly 85% of taxable land in the borough. Because St. Barnabas is a nonprofit, the borough does not receive anything in property taxes from the organization.
Additionally, according to McKenna, the borough has a limited amount of earned income tax, due to both its small population and the fact that a large percentage of its population are both seniors and retired.
“I would go as far as saying, across the entire state of Pennsylvania, we probably have the largest percentage of retirees right here in Valencia Borough,” McKenna said. “If you don’t have earned income tax and you have a reduced property tax base, then our ability to provide basic services is a problem.”
However, St. Barnabas has agreed to provide an annual lump sum contribution to the borough in lieu of property taxes. For 2026, the health system is expected to pay $27,000. According to secretary/treasurer Shannon McCall, the borough has not received the money yet.
“We do have a PILOT program where they do pay a portion of their property taxes. They do not pay zero,” McKenna said. “They contribute 60% of the full value of the property.”
