No tax increase expected for Bethel Park’s 2018 budget

Bethel Park Council gave an early glimpse of the 2018 budget at the committee meeting Sept. 25 and at this point, taxes are expected to remain steady.
Spending will be up a bit over this year’s spending plan of about $25.65 million, due in part to increases to salaries, insurance premiums and other expenses. It’s still early in the budget process and the numbers could change, but Councilman Jim McLean said a tax increase will not be necessary.
Council discussed some potential expenses at the committee meeting, including the purchase of a camera truck for the public works department. Workers could use that equipment to view from inside the sewer lines and determine the locations of any blockages or other problems.
The truck is estimated at $220,000 and the municipality would have to hire at least one additional worker capable of operating the truck. However, the state Department of Environmental Protection requires that Bethel Park use a camera to map a portion of its sewer lines every year and the municipality has been outsourcing the task for the past few years. This year, Bethel Park paid an outside company over $300,000.
Municipal Manager Shawn Arbaugh said it might be more cost effective for the municipality to purchase its own truck and do the job themselves.
“At this point, it should be revenue neutral,” he said.
Council will hold a budget hearing during the committee meeting at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 23. Council will adopt a final version of the budget before the end of the year.
In another matter, council reminded residents that they will see four ballot questions regarding potential changes to the home rule charter when they head to the polls for the Nov. 7 general election.
Voters have to approve any change to the home rule charter, but these changes are relatively minor.
One question will ask voters whether or not to extend the interval to update the municipality’s comprehensive plan. It must be updated every five years currently and municipal officials would like to increase that to 10 years.
Two questions concern budget deadlines. Currently, the municipal finance office must present a tentative capital fund budget to council by July 1 and it has until Sept. 1 for the general fund budget. The proposed changes will move those deadlines to Aug. 30 for the capital budget and Sept. 30 for the general budget.
Another question involves changing the start time for council’s reorganizational meeting from 8 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on the first Monday in January.