Heights Municipal Budget Costs Average Taxpayer $35 More

The 2013 municipal budget, which will collect an additional $35 for the year from the average taxpayer, was adopted Tuesday with a vote of 5 to 1 in favor.

The overall budget in the amount of $18,558,735 is up roughly 1.51 percent while the tax levy, or amount raised by taxpayers, is up an additional $175,000, a 1.26 percent increase which equals 1 tax point.

The sole No vote came from Councilman Christian Semenecz who challenged that the use of additional surplus funds could have brought upon a zero percent increase.

Mike Kronyak, chief financial officer and borough administrator, explained that surplus funds were used in the budget returning about 94 percent of the $1.3 million to the taxpayers however cutting deeper into the roughly $300,000 left behind would not leave the borough with enough of a cushion to fall back on should the borough not be able to regenerate more surplus this year.

"If you don’t regenerate what you use you start next year in a hole," said Kronyak.

Semenecz argued that other towns have been known to use all available surplus towards the budget referring to Ridgewood which is looking at a zero percent tax increase this year.

"I just saw Ridgewood give all of its $3 million back," Semenecz told them.

"There are mayors who do use all surplus and say 'if we need more money we’ll borrow it' but we don't do that," said Mayor Rose Heck. She added that the borough is "prudent and frugal" when it comes to its finances.

She told Semenecz she was hopeful that next year would see a zero percent increase.

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