Budget 1st look: balanced for 2021
COVID impact not as dire as predicted
LANSDALE » Despite six-plus months of lockdowns and uncertainty, Lansdale’s taxpayers look likely to get a bit of good news by the end of the year.
Early signs are that the borough’s budget for 2021 will be one that maintains all current tax rates.
“Even with COVID, even with all the uncertainty, even with every horror story we can imagine, our department heads put it together, and banked out a great
budget that’s not going to require any kind of tax increase this year,” said councilman Leon Angelichio.
Borough staff have given frequent updates on the impact of the coronavirus and resulting lockdowns on the town’s budget, starting in April when they projected a $1.5 million deficit due to lost tax revenue, then revised those predictions in recent months as further figures have come in.
Finance Director John Ramey told council’s administration and finance committee on Oct. 7 that the borough’s total tax revenues as of Aug. 31 were actually up by just over $90,000 or roughly one percent from the same time in 2019, while total expenses are roughly $370,000 or five percent below the same time the year before. Transfer tax revenue is down from 2019 levels, Ramey told the committee, but the gap has started to narrow.
“At the end of August, we were down $58,000, with 48 less properties sold. I got the September report this week, and it closed the gap a whole lot: we’re only down $23,000 as of the end of September, so we’re looking good there,” he said.
On the expense side, major savings have been seen in the police overtime category, down roughly $22,000 from 2019 levels due to a lack of public events, and public works overtime down by $57,000 due to relatively mild weather. Legal and other public works expenses are also down considerably, Ramey said, and as of the end of August borough revenues were at roughly 74 percent of the yearend total with expenses at roughly 53 percent, the former up and latter down from the year prior.
Talks on the draft 2021 budget will be continued in each council committee meeting on Nov. 4, ahead of possible council votes
on Nov. 18 and Dec. 16 to advertise and then adopt it.
“The budget, currently, is balanced with no tax increases. However, we will continue to look at, and modify, the budget for added efficiency and savings,” Angelichio said.
Elec tr ic costs could grow: Council’s Electric committee discussed the possibility that the electric bill paid by the borough, but not by its customers, may go up.
“It was made mention that our transmission rates were going up. I want to make sure ever ybody underst a nds, those transmission rates are the rates that the borough pays, not a rate increase we’re passing on to customers. That’s the borough paid rate,” said Borough Manager John Ernst.
Each year the town buys electricity wholesale from nationwide suppliers, then resells it to local residents and businesses, while also paying a separate borough bill for the portion used to power the town’s facilities, streetlights, signals and more.
Councilwoman Ca rrie Hawkins Charlton reported that the town’s electric committee, which she chairs, has discussed that for 2021 that portion of the borough’s electric expenses looks likely to go up by roughly $680,000, or roughly 13 percent from 2019 levels, due to an increase in transmission and
capacity charges on that wholesale contract.
Staff are currently looking into ways to lower those costs by reducing the town’s demand for electricity during highpeak hours, and the solar panel systems currently being installed at the Ninth Street electric department complex and at borough hall should help reduce those costs, she said. Staff are currently developing ways to share more details with residents on how those transmission charges impact the borough’s bill and the difference between the town and each residents’ charges, and said that information could be included in future editions of the “Electric Wire” newsletter sent to residents as part of their electric bills.
Parking con versation ongoing: Councilwoman Meg Currie Teoh reported that the town’s public safety committee held lengthy talks on Oct. 7 about parking in and around town, a conversation she and police Chief Mike Trail both said they expect to continue.
“We have not done much in the way of parking enforcement. We haven’t had a parking enforcement officer, among other things,” Teoh said.
The borough has recently filled that position, and residents who live on Main and Madison Streets were recently noti
fied that parking spots on those streets are meant, and zoned, for short-term parking and not long-term use during the day.
“Almost immediately, there was feedback from residents, saying ‘ We are all home all day now, and have nowhere to park,’” Teoh said.
After lengthy discussions, Teoh said, the committee and police department agreed to suspend code-related parking enforcement in that area for an additional 60 days while examining longerterm solutions. Council President Denton Burnell said he is “a fan of ‘testand-learn,’ and we have an opportunity to do that here,” while Mayor Garry Herbert said he’d prefer a more comprehensive approach sooner.
“I’m not opposed to, for lack of a better term, kicking this can down the road for 60 days if that’s what council would like me to do, but I don’t see a solution that doesn’t involve creating permits for residents that live in those apartments,” Herbert said.
Trail added that he wanted to address a public perception and comments on social media that the borough only charges parking tickets as a source of profit.
“The borough of Lansdale does not make any money on parking enforcement. We provide it as a means to promote turnover in our various parking areas, to allow businesses to get repeat customers, coming in and out. That’s it,” he said. “It isn’t about money. It’s about the pragmatic problem we have.”
After further discussion, council, Herbert and Trail agreed that police begin issuing warnings to those parked in short-term downtown areas that more str ingent enforcement could begin in the next 60 days, and Burnell said he’d set up a borough working group comprised of council members and business owners to continue further talks.