Hurricane Sandy Costing Hillsdale $176K Next Year

Emergency expenses totalling more than $176,000 will go into Hillsdale's 2013 budget.

The Hillsdale Council unanimously approved the emergency appropriations for Hurricane Sandy during their meeting Tuesday. Many borough employees had to work overtime and gas was purchased in Massachusetts for municipal vehicles and generators after the storm, Mayor Max Arnowitz previously said.

"Obviously, we're going to have to pay that back," Arnowitz said Tuesday.

The council approved a total of $176,816.31 for storm-related emergency appropriations. Other costs would be covered by the borough's insurance, according to Administrator Jonathan DeJoseph. Arnowitz also said he expected FEMA would reimburse the borough for a large portion of the expenses.

The borough had a $12.8 million budget for 2012, including $140,000 in emergency appropriations from storms in 2011. FEMA ended up paying between 75 and 80 percent of storm costs back to the borough, Arnowitz previously told Patch.

Officials dipped heavily into the budget to keep the tax levy increase as low as possible for this year's budget. Arnowitz said the emergency appropriations were equivalent to almost a full tax point, but believed FEMA aid and careful budgeting could cover the costs.

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