Taking the borough auditor’s advice, officials have postponed the municipal budget hearing until May 14.
At the April 23 Council meeting, Borough Administrator John DiStefano read a statement from the auditor informing the public of the recommendation.
DiStefano said by the second week in May he hopes to have received more information from the state as to whether or not the borough could get back any of the $122,000 in state aid that was taken away.
The state is "now talking about reconstituting the aid it took away from some municipalities," Mayor Sophie Heymann said.
DiStefano said the auditor also recommended the postponement because of the extraordinary aid portion.
The Borough applied for extraordinary aid but does not know how much, if any, it will get. According to the auditor, "Historically the state has advised those eligible communities in July if they have been awarded additional aid."
Once that number is known, DiStefano said, "we can see where we are with the 4 percent tax cap waiver."
The borough may need to apply for a cap waiver enabling it to exceed the state’s allowable 4 percent municipal tax levy increase. The proposed budget calls for a 14 percent increase, asking taxpayers to shoulder a $9.7 million municipal tax levy, $1.2 million more than last year’s.
Given the confluence of factors, DiStefano said, "it is a multi-processed environment" so the budget should not be discussed yet because it can change in "any number of ways."
Councilman John Glidden made the motion to postpone the hearing, which Councilman Dr. David Barad seconded.
Chris Donnelly, spokesman for the State Department of Community Affairs, said, "Any municipality that applies for extraordinary aid cannot adopt their budget until aid decisions are made, which cannot be done until after passage of the state budget."
