Concrete Curbs

A signigicant part of the Borough has Concrete Curbs. If we have to repair/replace ONE MILE of Concrete Curb per year, we will need to DOUBLE the Borough Property Tax. In this day and age, a better option is to provide Asphalt Curbs whenever repairs/replacements come up because there is NO MONEY IN THE BUDGET FOR CONCRETE CURBS. That is why I support the use of Asphalt Curbs during repaving (3 miles of roads are repaved on an average each year).

2010 Budget - UPDATE

I would like to see the Defined Contribution Pension Plan seperated from the Defined Benefit Plan in accordance with the suggestion from the Auditor General and then I would like to with-hold any payment to the Defined Contribution Plan this year since the budget is really tight. If the pain is being spread around, let the employees share some burden also.

I also want to know why the Northmont Dam expense is being reduced to $50,000 from the $150,000 in the current year. We still don't have DEP approval (remember the discussion in the public meeting when I brought it up to cut the property taxes for 2009). While we are making new submissions and we are hopeful of its outcome, it is not guaranteed. I don't see how you can reduce the outlay for Northmont Dam arbitrarily. ISN'T THIS THE SAME ARGUMENT THAT WAS PRESENTED TO ME WHEN YOU ALL KEPT THE $150,000 IN THE 2009 BUDGET.

Judge Wettick has the Hearing on our TAX INCREASE set up for Oct 21, 09 with Ira Weiss and other lawyers involved in the case. Ira Weiss (Max Junker) work for us and when they leave our doors, they work against us to RAISE OUR PROPERTY TAXES. I am mindful of the equity and fairness issues but I am more mindful of our PROPERTY TAXES. If someone is working hard to raise our TAXES, I will not support him. Note that I have known about this case for two years and TWO YEARS IN A ROW I HAVE VOTED AGAINST REAPPOINTMENT OF IRA WEISSAS OUR SOLICITOR.

Last but not least, I will not support ANY TAX INCREASE unless paving Oak Leaf Lane is delayed by ONE YEAR. I believe delaying paving Oak Leaf Lane is a far better option than ANY TAX INCREASE.

TAX INCREASE for 2010???

At the Sep 16, 09 Meeting, Jane Hopey and Dick Hartman said that we need a TAX INCREASE for 2010.
Do you agree?
Or can we delay paving Borough Streets, Bellwood Dr. and Oak Leaf Lane by ONE YEAR and not have a TAX INCREASE (a TAX CUT is possible if we pave these two streets in 2011 rather than in 2010).

The cost of paving these two streets is $500,000 . I hope some of you will drive on these streets and give your opinion on whether we can DELAY PAVING these TWO STREETS by ONE YEAR.

2010 Budget

Ambrose:

Some quick observations on the Budget Package:

You are projecting a decrease of $160,000 in 2009 expenditures, out of which $150,000 is the decrease for the Northmont Dam only. Is the total decrease for the rest of the activities only $10,000 ?

EIT Revenues are running at 70.5% at the end of August, pretty much in line with what was expected.
Real Estate Tax Revenues are at 95.8% at the end of August. It appears we should collect MORE than budget amount for Real Estate Tax this year.

Most of the expenditures for 2010 are for personnel, equipment and general maintenance work except Paving. We can delay ALL PAVING work by one year until the budget amounts recover to where we start to build up a cash surplus at the end of the year. Delaying paving would have the ripple affect of savings in pesonnel, material and maintenance costs.

If the GF needs a tax & revenue anticipation loan in 2010, that should be all right. When I joined the Council in 2006, we borrowed $700,000 (after a $1,000,000 borrowing in 2005) and we made money on the borrowed money, each of those two years.

There is no need to compare our millage with adjoining communities. People come to Franklin Park because of our low tax base and our superb services. That is a necessary expectation from the Borough Staff and Management. We cannot deviate from that trust placed in us.

Ash

Our Solicitor Ira Weiss's lawsuit to RAISE our TAXES

http://community.post-gazette.com/blogs/openletters/archive/2009/08/23/statewide-solution.aspx