LANSDALE – After a closer look at Lansdale’s proposed 2014 budget, an expected shortfall of $49,000 has disappeared, and Lansdale looks likely to have a budget featuring no tax increase or reserve spending next year. ‘It is a balanced budget. We’ve made some changes to expenses, each department reviewed their budgets and made adjustments, so we closed that gap and we are a true balanced budget without spending from reserves,’ said Finance Director Brian Shapiro. Shapiro and Borough Manager Timi Kirchner delivered a budget update to council’s Administration and Finance committee on Nov. 6 that reversed
their message from early October, eliminating the gap
between projected borough revenues and expenses in 2014. When council next meets on Nov. 20, Shapiro told the committee, it will need to advertise a tax ordinance setting millage rates for 2014, and that rate
will stay the same as it has since 2011
. ‘There is not a increase proposed, and millage will still remain the same: 3.5 mills,’ Shapiro said. The Nov. 20 meeting will also feature a formal budget presentation by Kirchner to council and the public, and it will then be advertised for public review before potential adoption in December. Program fees for the borough’s Parks and Recreation department will likely stay the same in 2014 as 2013 levels, and Code department staff have discussed changes to certain permit fees to simplify rate structures, according to council discussion on Nov. 6. The borough’s bottom line has gotten a big boost from PennDOT, Kirchner announced: $513,000 in supplemental funding has been awarded by the state department to help the borough cover cost overruns that occurred with its Main and Broad Street streetscape project in 2011 and ’12, and Kirchner specifically credited borough Utilities Director Jake Ziegler and PennDOT Transportation Construction Manager for Federal Aid Projects Dan Gleason for his close work with PennDOT throughout the various borough road projects. ‘This is something that we should be really, really proud of, because it really does speak to the confidence that an organization like PennDOT does have in our borough, and the ability to get these projects done right,’ she said. Admin and Finance also discussed a policy that will address the personal property of the borough if employees will want to take sentimental items from the now-closed Borough Hall, and that policy will also be up for adoption Nov. 20. Borough council will meet starting at 7 p.m. at the North Penn School District’s Educational Services Center, 401 E. Hancock St. For more information visit www.Lansdale.org or follow @LansdalePA on Twitter. Follow staff writer Dan Sokil on Twitter @DanSokil.For breaking news SMS alerts from The Reporter, text LANNEWS to 22700 from your mobile phone. *Msg & data rates may apply. For help, text HELP. To cancel, text STOP.
