Perkasie budgets for no tax, electric increases

Perkasie Borough Council approved the 2013 preliminary $18.385 million budget with no electric rate increase or tax increase at council’s meeting Monday, Nov. 19.

“I want to commend [Finance Director] Joe Berardi and [Borough Manager] Dan [Olpere] and the department heads for really doing a good job on the budget this year as they normally do,” council President Matthew Aigeldinger said. “It was a pleasure to go through the process, and we appreciate the information.”

This year’s property tax rate was 5.75 mills, and this millage rate will continue into 2013, according to Berardi.

Each mill equals $1 of taxes per $1,000 of assessed property value.

For a Perkasie homeowner whose house is assessed at $30,000, he or she can expect to continue paying around $172 in property taxes next year.

The residential tax information on the borough’s website states 4.75 mills go toward the borough and WhH UHPDLQLQJ 1 PLOO VHUvHV WhH fiUH company.

This year, expenses increased by 2.6 percent, and revenue increased by 1.4 percent, according to Berardi.

One of the larger expenditures in the budget is for a bucket truck to be used by the electric company. Berardi said $190,000 was set aside for the fund. Besides that, he said there was “normal spending.”

Some of the items cut from the original budget include $20,000

for a Chevy pickup truck, $19,000 for a new phone system, $14,000 for a roof replacement for the ERURuJK RIfiFH, $12,300 for a leaf vacuum and $10,000 for a chipper. An- other cut was for a substation security system that would have cost $60,000. Purchases for all of these items have been delayed.

Berardi said delaying the purchases was necessary so that the borough could balance the budget and avoid a tax hike.

“We cut about threequarters of a million dollars from the original budget,” he said.

Perkasie Borough CounFLO wLOO YRWH RQ WKH fiQDO budget at the regularly scheduled council meeting Monday, Dec. 17.