Hillsdale Council Approves $12.5M Budget

The Hillsdale Council voted 5-1 to approve an amended $12,569,669 budget during their meeting Tuesday night.

The budget includes a 1.9 percent tax levy increase, which equates to a $57 increase for the average borough homeowner with a property assessed at $469,400. Some homeowners may see an even higher taxes if their home's assessed value increased after the recent revaluation, Councilman Larry Meyerson said. School taxes will also be increasing by a combined $228 for the average borough homeowner.

Officials previously voted to amend the budget to move some items, which were originally to be paid for by borrowing, into the operating budget, but Councilmen Doug Frank and Frank Pizzella said they wanted to borrow even less than was planned.

Meyerson said that he and Pizzella had discussed the issue further and agreed to pay for one item, a new SUV for the Fire Department chief, by leasing the vehicle over five years instead of issuing a Bond Anticipation Note (BAN) as was previously planned. The borough will still issue BANs for a new police car and the road repaving program at a combined cost of more than $220,000.

"I think it's a good compromise," Council President Tom Kelley said. "It works."

The Council will also bond more than $5 million worth of BANs which had previously been "kicked down the road," Frank said.

Frank, who said he voted against the budget because of the additional BANs, said he was happy to be paying off the other debt and that this year's budget was "very reasonable." This year's budget has less spending than last year's $12.8 million budget.

"We should really be paying for what we're spending now," Frank said.

Meyerson said he believed that now is a good time to be borrowing because of the low interest rates and the extra tax hit some residents will feel from the revaluation and school taxes.

"There are times to borrow and there are times to not borrow," Meyerson said. "This year is a time to borrow."

Pizzella, who had previously also voted against the amendment but voted for the budget Tuesday, said he believed the compromises in the budget would "assist in healing the community" after the various political disagrements from the past year.

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