POTTSTOWN PA – Lower Pottsgrove’s political leaders now have two of three 2011 budget meetings behind them, having been scheduled to meet Tuesday (Oct. 5, 2010) and last month (Sept. 21) to discuss next year’s potential spending plan. So how are things shaping up? They’re about what you’d expect in a still-faltering economy, township Commissioner James Kaiser volunteered Monday night (Oct. 4); OK, but not great.
Kaiser’s assessment was in response to questions posed by township resident and Planning Commissioner member William Wolfgang, during the Board of Commissioners’ meeting in the municipal building, 2199 Buchert Rd., Pottstown. “Are we on track with this year’s budget?,” Wolfgang asked. “Where do we stand for next year?”
“OK” answered the first. “Not great,” the second.
“Clearly the revenues are down,” said Kaiser, who handles financial matters for an Exton software company and also serves on the board budget committee. “And expenses are trending about the same as expected,” he added. “Our problem is that a lot of our costs are fixed.”
Not irreparably so, township Manager Rodney Hawthorne chimed in. “We’re hurting somewhat in revenues; everyone is,” Hawthorne noted. As it has in years’ past, he added, the township staff has eked out economies and reduced spending where it could. Through three quarters of the year so far, he indicated, the budget is generally in line with start-of-the-year forecasts.
No one offered to predict what’s ahead, however. Commissioners have hinted in the past that this was another year in which a tax increase – no matter how slight – would be unpalatable and, for some property owners, even unmanageable. To make up for lost revenue it is possible commissioners will dip once again, as they did during 2010, into the township’s fund balance – its savings account – for a financial boost.
The board budget committee’s last meeting is scheduled for Oct. 20 (Wednesday) at 4:30 p.m. in the municipal building. It is open to the public.
Related (to Lower Pottsgrove Township’s 2011 budget):
