Waynesburg council adopts budget with no tax increase
WAYNESBURG – Waynesburg Borough council voted Monday to adopt the borough’s 2015 budget, a spending plan that holds the line on taxes but includes cuts across the board for borough departments.
The budget, which lists expenditures at $1,653,000, is identical to the tentative budget approved last month and keeps property taxes at 9 mills.
Borough manager Mike Simms called the budget “bare bones.” Projected revenue with no tax increase meant the need for reductions in all departments. “I tried to make (the budget cuts for each department) as equal as possible,” he said later.
One department head, police Chief Rob Toth, expressed concerns about the cuts in his budget. “I’m not sure how we will be able to stay within that budget,” he said.
The police budget was reduced by $154,000. The new budget includes $452,000 for police, but as of Dec. 3, the department this year already had spent $535,000, Toth said. About $71,000 remains in the police budget for this year, he said.
Simms said some additional expenditures were included in the police budget for the current year. Salaries for two full-time meter agents were included but the borough now has only two part-time meter agents.
The current budget also included additional money for uniforms for new part-time officers, which may not be needed next year, he said. Overtime for full-time officers also was cut.
Councilman Larry Marshal suggested the budget later be re-adjusted if the police department finds it is running short.
Marshall said he, too, is unhappy with the budget. The budget includes little money for street paving, for example, he said. In addition, the borough will be facing a major sewerage project in the near future, which may be costly.
Nobody wants to raise taxes but each department wants more money, Marshall said. It’s a problem for all boroughs the size of Waynesburg.
Toth noted the police department responded to more incidents this year, were involved in several significant drug arrests and have seen increases in truck accidents and traffic enforcement in general.
“Our guys are out there doing their job,” he said. “They’re doing well, and I want to keep that going.”
He also spoke of increased enforcement in regard to the heavy truck traffic, which council members noted was important for safety but also could bring in additional revenue.
Two borough officers are becoming certified in “weights and measures” and will be able to enforce laws on overweight trucks in the borough. Toth said the borough only needs to obtain scale.
The scales can cost $30,000 to $40,000, but Toth said he is exploring several avenues to obtain them at a reduced price. One officer also is plannin to attend training to become certified to conduct much more extensive truck inspections, he said.
Among the spending categories for the general fund, the budget lists $452,400 for public safety, which includes police; $713,700 for miscellaneous expenses, including hospitalization, retirement and insurance; $176,500 for general government; and $204,300 for public works.
The sewage budget totaled $548,900, which is less than the current year, but primarily attributed to a change in accounting.
In the past, street employee salaries were included in the sewage budget because they did work on the sewage system, Simms said. In the new budget, 75 percent of their salaries will be paid from the general fund and the remaining 25 percent from the sewage budget.
In other business, Todd Robie of PIRHL Developers LLC, the developer of the proposed 52-unit apartment building for seniors at the corner of High and East streets, gave council an update on the project.
Roble reported everything has been moving ahead well and the company hopes to begin construction in the spring and have the project completed by June 2016.
The borough had earlier committed $50,000 toward the project, that would paid over a five-year period.
Robie said one of the financial backers asked whether it was possible for the borough to provide the money over three years.
Marshall said he didn’t see any problem with the requests but asked borough solicitor Pat Fitch to review the matter.