Point Borough Council Postpones Budget Adoption

Adoption of the municipal budget is again being postponed so the Borough Council can amend the budget to prevent layoffs and more furloughs.

The amount of the tax increase will be lower than the state-mandated cap of 2 percent, but exact figures still need to be worked out in light of budget revisions, said Borough Business Administrator David Maffei.

The council voted unanimously Tuesday night for a resolution for budget amendments to be on the July 19 council agenda.

On July 19, the council will still hold a public hearing on the version of the municipal budget that was introduced on June 9.

When the budget was introduced on June 9, it called for 14 furlough days and four of those have already been taken by most municipal employees.

However, the council will also introduce a resolution on July 19 to amend that version of the budget. The amendments call for adding about $258,000 to the budget to help plug a deficit, to avert the need for layoffs, additional furlough days, demotions and reduction of work hours, Maffei said.

Then the amendments have to be advertised once in local newspapers. The council cannot meet again, to take action on the budget, for three days, Maffei said.

After the three days has passed, the council can meet and adopt the budget, pending the state giving them a green light to do so, Maffei said.

Maffei said adding funding for salaries that would have been lost through layoffs reduces the amount the town has to pay for unemployment benefits.

However, Maffei said he also had to add in health care benefits costs. The net result of the additions and reductions came to a net addition of $258,000, he said.

The $258,000 comes from $354,000 the borough is borrowing from school tax revenue, known as "deferred school taxes."

The borough council voted at  the June 9 meeting to borrow $354,000 from school tax revenue.

The borough is able to do that because it collects taxes for the municipality, school district and county. It collects the taxes for the school district six months in advance and, when borrowing from those funds, the borough must pay the money back six months later so the schools can function.

"We are legally obligated to pay back 100 percent of the money to the schools in six months," Councilwoman Toni DePaola had said after the June meeting.