BROOKVILLE, Pa. (EYT) — The news isn’t good as Brookville Borough considers a budget for 2017.
The Finance Committee has been working on the budget for some time.
Council Vice President and Finance Committee Chairman Phil Hynes presented the preliminary budget to the rest of the council after Tuesday night’s regular meeting.
The budget isn’t final and there is still plenty of work to do, but the preliminary numbers aren’t looking good.
The early figures show general expenditures of about $2.1 million and an approximate revenue of $1.9 million, leaving a deficit of $200,000.
Hynes explained that borough manager Dana Shick had cut back considerably on the borough’s wish list for 2017.
He also explained borough had made about $92,000 in cuts from its proposed budget, still leaving it more than $100,000 short of a balanced budget.
“It’s a bare-bones budget,” Shick said. “We’re not in a good position.”
As the numbers are now, Brookville residents could face a 2-mill tax increase.
President Pro-Tem Bill Kutz said the council may have to consider cutting personnel.
“I don’t like it, but it may have to be considered,” Kutz said.
He also questioned if any borough employees were eligible for retirement, but none are, according to Police Chief Jason Brown and Shick.
Brookville had a 1-mill increase the last two years.
The approved budget was $2,407,695 in 2016 while it was $2,520,638 in 2015.
“We were very fortunate to not have to increase taxes for many years,” Hynes said.
Brookville hasn’t received Community Development Block Grant money since 2010 after census numbers dropped to the point where it wasn’t eligible.
“Ever since we lost the CDBG money, we’ve had to drawn down the reserve, but we’re getting too low there to do that,” Hynes said.
Brookville’s count dropped below 4,000 residents after the census six years ago, costing it more than $90,000 every year.
Council member Karen Allgeier said council needs to start looking for more grants.
Hynes asked that each council member spend considerable time going over the proposed budget in the coming weeks.
Copyright © 2024 EYT Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. Any copying, redistribution or retransmission of the contents of this service without the express written consent of EYT Media Group, Inc. is expressly prohibited.
