After advertising, council will take a final vote in December.
The meeting began with council supporting a 2-mill increase. However, Mayor Leo Lutz unexpectedly suggested reducing it to 1 mill, citing his recent budget review.
Councilman Peter Stahl went further, advocating for no increase at all. He argued that council had not sufficiently addressed expenses and underlying issues. Stahl expressed concern that a tax increase would reduce the pressure on council to tackle necessary cost-cutting measures.
.jpg)
“If we pass the tax increase that will solve our problem this year, we’re not going to solve the long-term problem in the next year or even the following years,” Stahl said. “It’s just going to kick it down the road until we gotta raise taxes again.”
Later in the discussion, Stahl added, “We have the opportunity right now to hold our feet to the fire . . . Some of these topics are going to be hard to talk about.”
Lutz said that while he agreed with Stahl in principle, he wanted to proceed “with a little more ease,” which is why he recommended a 1-mill increase.
.jpg)
The meeting began with council supporting a 2-mill increase. However, Mayor Leo Lutz unexpectedly suggested reducing it to 1 mill, citing his recent budget review.
Councilman Peter Stahl went further, advocating for no increase at all. He argued that council had not sufficiently addressed expenses and underlying issues. Stahl expressed concern that a tax increase would reduce the pressure on council to tackle necessary cost-cutting measures.
.jpg)
Stahl: “Why are we raising taxes when we didn't draw below 15%? Makes no sense to me.” [File photo]
Later in the discussion, Stahl added, “We have the opportunity right now to hold our feet to the fire . . . Some of these topics are going to be hard to talk about.”
Lutz said that while he agreed with Stahl in principle, he wanted to proceed “with a little more ease,” which is why he recommended a 1-mill increase.
.jpg)
Zink: "It's time to pay the piper."
[File photo]
Council President Heather Zink said, “We’ve gotta do something about the debt service . . . We’ve been saying let’s put it off. It’s time to pay the piper.”
A topic of concern was the amount still held in reserves, currently $1.6-1.7 million, or 19% of the budget. According to borough ordinance, that amount cannot dip below 15%. Some council members were concerned that without raising taxes, it would be necessary to borrow from reserves, which could fall below the lower limit.
Councilman Todd Burgard proposed a compromise rate of 1.5 mills. After debating each proposal, council voted on the various options, but all were rejected. With no resolution in sight, council made a final attempt to pass the original 2-mill increase, which succeeded with a 5-2 vote. Councilors Stahl and Joanne Geesey cast the dissenting votes. A subsequent vote approved advertising the budget for public inspection, at 2 mills.
The situation highlighted council's missed opportunities for budget review, as a budget meeting and at least two work sessions had been canceled throughout the year, limiting chances for a detailed expense analysis.
During the voting process, it was often unclear who supported which proposal, until the final roll call vote brought clarity to the matter.
During public comment, resident Sharon Lintner addressed the council, discussing ongoing projects and expressing concerns about how higher taxes would impact economic development and quality of life in the community.
“The borough has had a tendency to have too many irons in the fire at once with major projects," Lintner said. “With this looming tax increase, how much is economic development and home ownership worth to you as a council? I keep hearing we want economic development, we want home ownership, but you're going to keep driving it away if you keep raising taxes year after year.”
A topic of concern was the amount still held in reserves, currently $1.6-1.7 million, or 19% of the budget. According to borough ordinance, that amount cannot dip below 15%. Some council members were concerned that without raising taxes, it would be necessary to borrow from reserves, which could fall below the lower limit.
Councilman Todd Burgard proposed a compromise rate of 1.5 mills. After debating each proposal, council voted on the various options, but all were rejected. With no resolution in sight, council made a final attempt to pass the original 2-mill increase, which succeeded with a 5-2 vote. Councilors Stahl and Joanne Geesey cast the dissenting votes. A subsequent vote approved advertising the budget for public inspection, at 2 mills.
The situation highlighted council's missed opportunities for budget review, as a budget meeting and at least two work sessions had been canceled throughout the year, limiting chances for a detailed expense analysis.
During the voting process, it was often unclear who supported which proposal, until the final roll call vote brought clarity to the matter.
During public comment, resident Sharon Lintner addressed the council, discussing ongoing projects and expressing concerns about how higher taxes would impact economic development and quality of life in the community.
“The borough has had a tendency to have too many irons in the fire at once with major projects," Lintner said. “With this looming tax increase, how much is economic development and home ownership worth to you as a council? I keep hearing we want economic development, we want home ownership, but you're going to keep driving it away if you keep raising taxes year after year.”
No comments:
Post a Comment