Hillsdale Introduces $12.56M Budget

The Hillsdale Council introduced a tentative $12.56 million budget during their meeting Tuesday night.

If approved, the budget includes a 1.9 percent tax levy increase, which would mean a $57 increase in taxes for the average borough home assessed at $469,400. The tentative local and regional school district budgets would raise taxes by an additional $226 for that same home. The county budget will also affect local taxes, but the amount was not immediately available.

The proposed 2013 borough budget is actually a drop from last year's $12.8 million budget. Taxes will still increase because only $950,000 will be taken from the surplus, as opposed to $1.3 million last year. The total tax levy will increase from from about $8.6 million to about $8.8 million.

The Council also voted Tuesday to foreclose on four outstanding municipal tax sale certificates during their meeting. Administrator Jonathan DeJoseph said that the borough had been paying school and county taxes for the "worthless, landlocked" properties, so eliminating those costs will save some money.

The proposed budget can be viewed on the borough's website here. Also check out the pie charts below the photo showing the proposed revenue sources and appropriations included in the budget.

The council has scheduled a special public hearing to present the budget March 27 at 7:30 p.m. in Borough Hall. Residents will be able to ask questions about the budget at that meeting, and officials may still make some changes.

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