Plan includes $164 average hike
by Nicole M. Wells, Special Writer
ALLENTOWN – The Borough Council unanimously adopted the 2013 $2.04 million budget at the May 7 public hearing.
Council member Jean Hunter was absent from the meeting and did not take part in the vote.
This year’s budget includes a 5.7-cent increase in the tax rate and represents a decrease from last year’s budget of $2.19 million. The average homeowner, with a home assessed at $288,100, will pay $164 more in municipal taxes than last year.
Prior to the 2010 revaluation, the average home was assessed at $155,000, Mayor Stuart Fierstein said.
The amount to be raised through taxation is $1.4 million, according to budget documents provided by the borough. The tax levy last year was $1.31 million.
”The auditor has reviewed this budget and found it to be extremely lean,” Mayor Fierstein said.
The borough is down to a minimum number of employees and is sharing services with other municipalities in an effort to trim costs, he said.
An ordinance to establish a cap bank was introduced at the March 27 meeting, and the borough intends to bank between $12,000-13,000, which keeps the budget within the two percent cap.
Of the 5.7-cent tax rate increase, 4.7 cents are the result of increasing insurance and pension costs, as well as continued loss of revenue from Verizon, the mayor said.
Last year, Verizon informed the borough of its decision to stop paying taxes on its poles and wires that run through town. State law allows it to do so if it doesn’t provide landline service to at least 51 percent of a community’s households.
The borough also qualified to receive a substantial amount of state aid, Mayor Fierstein said.
”We have qualified for the Best Practices rebate, so that the maximum amount of state funding is coming in,” he said.
The Best Practices program is a Christie administration initiative that is designed to improve transparency and accountability at the local level of government, according to a press release. Municipalities must complete a survey, with their level of participation and compliance with the items listed determining the amount of money they receive in their state formula aid payment.