CDBG and other grants to fund road paving and water tank projects

Palmerton’s 2018 budget, which will allow for additional road paving and the construction of a new water tank without the need for an increase, was approved during Thursday’s council meeting.

Borough manager Rodger Danielson’s budget address cites the repaving of the 600, 700, and 800 blocks of West Princeton Avenue in 2018 and the Municipal Authority’s water tank installation in the west end of town above Edgemont Ave. as major projects for the coming year. Community Development Block Grants, along with a $256,595 grant for the water tank, will be used for the improvements, preventing any budget increases.

Routine maintenance for general street and alley work will be scheduled throughout the year as funding becomes available.

Upgrades to the playground in the borough park are set to be finished by the end of 2018, and improvements to the Wastewater Treatment Plant’s operating processes are continuing, “assuring that regulatory discharge limits are met.”

The borough is expecting 2018 General Fund Budget revenue to fall just shy of $1.9 million, a decrease from 2017’s projected year-end total of just over $2.1 million. General Fund expenses for 2018 are estimated at just under $2.2 million, a slight decrease from 2017’s anticipated final expenses.

Thanks to a revenue that outperformed expectations from the 2017 budget, 2018 should see about $617,000 in the General Fund coffers to start, though the fund may be cut in half over the year in order to bridge the $300,000 gap between revenue and expenses.

The Street Project Fund will see a significant drop in revenue and expenses, though this is largely due to loan proceeds found in the 2017 budget, which provided over $940,000 in revenue. The 2018 budget will allot just over $50,000 for the fund this year, with expenses anticipated to match that amount.

As for the Debt Reduction Fund, the balance is set to climb to just under $250,000 by the end of 2018, a $20,000 increase over the assumed 2017 end total.

Finance committee chairperson Holly Sell thanked Danielson and borough treasurer Donna McGarry for their diligent work in preparing the budget.

“Overall, it is always nice to present a no-inrease budget, which this is,” Danielson’s address said. “Efforts by both staff and administration to effectively meet the needs of our residents help make Palmerton ‘A Nice Place to Live.’”