Murrysville staff begins pandemic-related adjustments to 2021 budget

Murrysville Chief Administrator Jim Morrison has noted several times over the years that he and the municipal staff take a cautious approach to the annual budget.

“We are a conservative bunch here, and the numbers reflect that,” he said. “However, there are so many things that are unpredictable at this point, that conservatism will serve us well.”

Morrison and Finance Director Diane Heming “have taken a hard look at the budget and what effect the (coronavirus) pandemic is going to have on operations,” Morrison told council at its most recent meeting, estimating a roughly $1.5 million shortfall going into 2021.

“I imagine tax collections are going to be pretty abysmal this year,” council President Dayne Dice said, “so we may have a lot to talk about.”

Murrysville officials have not raised taxes in more than a decade.

The Brookings Institution, a public policy nonprofit in Washington, D.C., projects that the effects of a pandemic-related recession could cause economic stress at the local government level.

“Large-scale ‘social distancing’ will reduce consumer spending and workers’ wages and, in turn, cause sales and income tax revenues to plummet,” Brookings Institution researchers wrote in a late-March analysis.

Morrison said staff has looked at the expenditure side of the budget and recommended some options that will be brought to the first council meeting in May.

“We’re hopeful that this is the worst-case scenario based on the knowledge we have now,” Morrison said. “Staff’s of the opinion that we need to get ahead of this now, so we aren’t sitting here in September or October wondering, ‘What do we do now?’”

Council’s next scheduled meeting is 7 p.m., May 6. The meeting is expected to take place on the Zoom platform and livestreamed via a link at Murrysville.com.

Meetings are also broadcast on Comcast local access Channel 19.