At one time, Shenango Township and West Middlesex often shared services in an effort to defray costs, township Supervisor Walter “Butch” Gelesky remembers.

That all ended when the township believed it was paying too much for what it could run itself, he said.

“We were flipping the bill for everything,” Gelesky said.

The township had paid the borough annually for fire protection, but officials chose to split once realizing the municipality could run it’s own department for less, he said.

Much of that same sentiment still exists in the township today and, for many, will keep them from supporting a ballot question Tuesday to consolidate the two towns, Gelesky said.

Gelesky has likened the whole notion to the financial bailout federal lawmakers approved in October as part of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act.

He’s posted signs around the township encouraging people to turn consolidation down.

The biggest roadblock to supporting a merger is projecting a realistic potential budget for the proposed West Middlesex Township, he said.

When supervisors and council came together in a series of meetings since February to crunch numbers, potential job cuts weren’t factored in.

The proposed budget does eliminate some of the duplicated services both municipalities currently provide, but doesn’t consider eliminating either the borough’s or township’s secretary or combining fire departments or sewer authorities once joined.

Without doing so, Gelesky said a true measure of what the finances of the new town may look like can’t be completed.

Township officials have fought against change in recent years and even put an end to the consolidation effort in January 2007 once already.

Supervisor Bill Williams, also the township’s fire chief, and then-supervisors Richard Flack and Chuck Gilliland voted against pursuing any prospect of the idea further.

Council voted to revive consolidation research earlier this year before money from a state grant for the study expired. Supervisors agreed and later also approved a motion along with council to put the referendum on Tuesday's ballot.

Williams maintains his distaste for consolidation and said he doesn’t see anything the township can gain if voters approve it.