Morrison said borough’s finances were in dire straits when he came on board. "The difference between then and now is day and night," he said.
By John Tredrea
Summarizing his book-length 2002 audit of Pennington Borough during Monday night’s Borough Council meeting, auditor Robert Morrison said the day-to-day financial operations of the borough "continue to strengthen" significantly.
Mr. Morrison said his audit contains only five very minor recommendations for change, all of which already have been implemented. "None of these recommendations pertain to anything of major significance. They’re all just housekeeping measures," he said, an example being the clearing of balances between various borough funds. "They’ve been cleared," he said.
Mr. Morrison became Pennington’s auditor four years ago. He said the borough’s finances were in dire straits then. "The difference between then and now is day and night," he said.
Mayor Jim Loper and Mr. Morrison noted that chances look good that the borough will reach the goal of its chief financial officer, Sandy Webb, to have no corrective recommendations whatever in the 2003 audit, which Mr. Morrison also will do. "As of now, I’m not aware of any recommendations that will need to be made for 2003," Mr. Morrison said.
"That’s fantastic," Mr. Loper said, extending kudos to Ms. Webb, borough Treasurer Betty Sterling and Tax Collector Irene Billings.
Pennington has an extremely favorable rate of municipal property tax collection, Mr. Morrison pointed out Monday night. He said the borough collects 98 percent of its property taxes during the same year they are levied. The miniscule balance is collected within six months of the next year. Not all municipalities in this state are so fortunate. "Some cities will never collect 20 or 30 percent of the property taxes they levy," he said.