No tax increase in Brentwood for the fifth straight year

While Brentwood leaders are planning ribbon-cuttings for a new municipal building and renovated borough pool in 2020, residents won’t be feeling the pinch at the bank.

Council members on Dec. 9 approved the borough’s 2020 budget that keeps real estate taxes at 10 mills for the fifth straight year.

The $24.6 million 2020 budget includes $8.9 million in the general fund, $5.8 million in the sanitary sewer fund, $180,000 in the park fund, $5.7 million in the capital improvement fund, $5 million in the borough building fund, $485,000 in the highway aid fund and $641,000 in the operating reserve fund.

“That’s the main priority that council gives me every year — hold the line on taxes and do not decrease services,” borough Manager George Zboyovsky said. “We’re doing it the other way around. We’re increasing services and holding the line on property taxes.”

Property owners in Brentwood with a home assessed at $100,000 will pay $1,000 in real estate taxes in 2020. One mill in Brentwood Borough brings in $395,000. One-half of a mill included in the tax rate is allocated for the Brentwood Public Library.

In the 2020 budget, the borough saw increases to health care costs of 14%.

The police budget increased by 7% to $2.5 million that includes a 100% increase in police protection supplies, Zboyovsky said.

The union representing Brentwood police and the borough are nearing the end of contract negotiations that likely will be voted on early in 2020, Zboyovsky said. This could include a switch to 12-hour shifts for officers. A new officer also likely will be hired in January, bringing the department up to 14 members, he said.

The public works budget also increased by 6% in 2020 to $1.4 million, mostly due to health care and salaries, Zboyovsky said.

The capital projects fund grew from $4.1 million in 2019 to $5.7 million in 2020.

“We’ve got some big projects going on,” Zboyovsky said.

Even with early delays to the construction of a new municipal building on Brownsville Road at the former Snee Dairy site, the building still is on track to open in July or August, Zboyovsky said.

The project is budgeted at $5 million, with $4.5 million going to construction, $300,000 for security costs, $80,000 for furnishings and $126,000 for miscellaneous costs.

A renovated Brentwood pool also is set to be completed in 2020. The project is set to cost $3.34 million, being offset by more than $1 million in grants.

While the deadline in the contract for construction is October, the project is moving quickly. Borough leaders are hoping for a summer opening.

“The way it’s moving, not to jinx it, but I know council members are hoping for another July 4 opening, just like its initial opening,” Zboyovsky said.

Much of these two projects were funded by a $7 million borrowing the borough took out in 2018.

This year marks the third straight year in Brentwood where capital projects in the budget total more than $3 million, Zboyovsky said.

Other purchases include a new police vehicle and a new public works chipper.

The sidewalk repair program will increase from $50,000 to $77,000 in 2020. The road program is budgeted to increase from $500,000 to $550,000.

The borough also received a grant that will cover 50% of a $240,000 central business district streetscape project, where trees will be replaced and improvements made along Brownsville Road.

Stormwater management also will increase from $187,000 to $200,000 in 2020.

The borough also planned $98,000 in Civic Center upgrades, including a new room and making the building more handicap accessible.

The library also will get a new roof in 2020, budgeted at $124,000. A grant will help offset the cost.

Residents will pay more in 2020 in sewage rates, as ALCOSAN raised its rates by 7%. Residents will pay $8.50 per 1,000 gallons. The monthly service charge also increased from $5.56 to $5.95.

The borough held the line on its sewage rates at $8.91 per 1,000 gallons, with a $4.57 monthly service charge.