Proposed Sharpsburg budget contains no tax hike, borough sewer fee change

Sharpsburg property owners should not expect a tax hike as part of next year’s budget.

Council unanimously voted Oct. 23 to advertise the 2026 budget, but they did not immediately release it.

No date to do so was set at the meeting, so it was unclear when the plan would be made public.

State law requires borough budgets to be posted for public review at least 10 days prior to adoption.

Borough Manager Christine DeRunk said she was awaiting fire department requests and a few other items before formally presenting the budget, and does not anticipate any substantial changes before next month’s meeting.

A budget presentation is planned for the Nov. 13 workshop with final adoption set for Nov. 20.

DeRunk went over some of the budget highlights at the October meeting.

She said next year’s budget is balanced with no need for a tax hike or a sewer rate increase, but Alcosan is expected to raise its rates by 7% next year. DeRunk stressed that the borough has no control over Alcosan’s rates.

The borough’s sewer service charge is $4 per quarter and sewer consumption at $7.25 per 1,000 gallons.

The current borough real estate tax rate is 9.75 mills.

Projected revenues and expenditures for this year were listed at a little more than $4.65 million.

DeRunk said she expects the borough to end the year with a $73,000 balance.

Most of those funds, should they come to fruition, would be added to the capital reserve fund.

About $200,000 in capital reserves is allocated for paving next year, which is an increase of $50,000 compared to this year’s allocation.

DeRunk said $50,000 is earmarked for the borough’s bicentennial celebration. The goal is to ease the burden on the parks and recreation commission, which continues to plan for the event to take place sometime next year.

“It felt like the right thing to do to elevate that pressure and make it so that they didn’t have to also fundraise while trying to (plan) all the awesome events that are going to be coming,” DeRunk said.

Some upgrades to Kennedy Park, including new fencing are planned for next year. It is unclear how much the overall project would cost.

Councilwoman Sarah Ishman, the finance committee chairwoman, said constructing the budget takes teamwork and commended DeRunk’s efforts.

“It’s all a credit to Christine and the rest of council doing the hard work to keep a tight budget and manage expenses,” Ishman said. “Really, it’s a team effort and really appreciate everybody’s contributions.

Ishman defended waiting at least a few more days to post the proposed spending plan despite voting to advertise it for public comment.

“It’s still in draft form,” she said. “We’ll have the final numbers when we advertise it. It’s authorizing Christine to be able to advertise it so she doesn’t have to wait all the way until the next meeting. As soon as it’s finished up, then she can put it out for comment.

“We’re not voting to approve an unknown budget. We’re just voting to put it out there.”