TodayMechanicsburg council barely passes budget
No tax increase in its preliminary budget, but Mechanicsburg council debates whether everything is needed
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Article RatingNo tax increase is expected for Mechanicsburg residents, but council members still could not agree on a preliminary budget Tuesday.
Mayor Jack Ritter broke the 3-3 tie by casting the deciding vote in favor of the $5.9 million spending plan.
Though the budget does not include a tax increase, despite the increase in fuel costs, three council members found fault in other areas and voted against formally advertising the general budget to the public. Vice President Charlie Ryder was absent from the meeting, which led to an even number of council members.
A new position in the police department caused the most dissension among council members.
“There was the $25,000 for an additional staff person for the police department -- it’s for a clerical position,” Councilman Matthew Seachrist said. “I voted no, regretfully because it is a balanced budget without a tax increase, but I think that given the economic conditions, now is not a time to create a new position, and one that I felt had a vague job description.”
The $25,000 was added back to the budget before the start of Tuesday’s meeting, but Borough Manager Patrick Dennis said the finance committee had already been using that number in its calculations and the change did not upset the balance of the budget.
That addition seemed to be one of the few increases in salary across the board in the borough. Salaries for the borough office staff, as well as the fire chief, saw minor increases, but the total salaries for the office manager, police officers, highway department officials and wastewater treatment officials all fell.
Some decreases were caused by turnover in the borough. For example, Dennis was hired at a $55,000 salary while his predecessor had earned more than $72,000.
Some community contributions from the borough to area organizations were also cut. While Meals on Wheels will receive the same amount of money it did last year, $1,500 was cut from civil and military celebrations and $200 from the senior citizens center. New Hope Ministries will receive the same amount as last year, which was a decrease of more than $1,500 from the year before.
Aside from gasoline costs, some of the other increases in the preliminary budget include $8,000 for more park security, thousands of dollars in supplies to all departments, transportation costs and public utility costs. The borough is also investing more in its compost site, with more money for equipment fuel and rental.
It also includes a $10,000 increase in labor at the compost site -- double what was budgeted last year but an amount that the borough calculated is on par with what it has actually spent at the site this year.
The potential for unexpected costs in a tight budget means extra worries for council.
“I wish there was more of a cushion there,” Councilman Roger Ciecierski said. “But it does cost money to provide those services.”
The 2009 preliminary budget will be advertised to the public and must be passed in December.
