Avondale mayor: Borough council fiscally responsible; no tax hike for 11 straight years

A lot of inaccurate and incomplete information has appeared on social media and in the local newspaper, following the Avondale Borough Council meeting of Feb. 18, 2020. They accused the council of not being fiscally responsible. They reported that several projects by the borough ran over budget; this is inaccurate. The Borough Council is fiscally responsible and works diligently to do projects in this borough.

The Borough Council gets as much grant money as possible as to not raise taxes on the residents. Some Council members would like to address these complaints. We would also welcome anyone to attend a council meeting.

Our overall expenditures for 2019 was under budget. We ended December 31, 2019 with a surplus of $258,520.00 in our General Fund to carry forward for 2020. In 2018 we came in under budget. Our General Fund ended with a surplus of $157,388.00.

The Borough has not asked for a tax increase for 11 straight years. Compared to surrounding municipalities, this is a record that we are proud of. Contrary to some comments made, this makes us fiscally responsible, which we share with the residents by not raising their taxes.

On any large project involving storm sewers, waste water, water systems or large road repairs, which are usually in the millions of dollars, the Borough would need to apply for a grant. We simply do not have those kinds of funds for those large projects. They could not be done without a grant.

We are currently working on several projects where we received grant money. We also plan on applying for grants for other large projects, involving streets and storm sewers and streetscapes.

Some Residents had a problem with upgrading the Borough Hall. This project was approved to move forward at the December 2019 Council meeting. We have long needed more space for meetings. We also need to be more ADA compliant.

This upgrade of the building had first been discussed many years before the 2019 meeting. Council delayed moving forward because of other projects that took precedence at that time. We are comfortable in the fact that we can move forward with this project without stressing our reserves.

A resident asked for the council to waive a $ 300.00 cost of inspection for a project, which is an apartment for a low-income family. While we agree that this is a worthy project, we are more cautious in approval until the property is checked and approved by our Code Enforcement Officer and we do not want to establish a precedent. The delay was not about the amount of the request by the property owner. We hope to be able to approve that request shortly.

The council approved to honor those who served in the military and fund the cost for the banners. We never expected that our small Borough would have more than 70 Military Hometown Heroes. While the project was under budgeted in the initial project request; we were able to meet the monies spent by drawing from other under budgeted projects. The Borough did not “lose” money on the project. Avondale Borough is honored to be able to do this small gesture for our Military Hometown Heroes.

It takes a lot of time to research, apply and administer grant funds if awarded. The borough has received millions of dollars in grant money throughout the years to fund many projects, thanks to much help from the County Commissioners, Senator Dinniman, Senator Pileggi, Department of Environmental Protection, Department of Community and Economic Development, Representative Chris Ross, Pat Bokovitz from the County, and FEMA.

Some of our Borough Council members work very diligently to create a safe and clean environment for Avondale Borough residents.

Dottie Howell Mayor, Avondale

Borough