No tax increase in Oakmont proposed budget

Oakmont’s proposed 2024 budget calls for no tax raises.

The budget includes over $5.4 million in expenditures with about $5.1 million in revenue. according to information presented at council’s Nov. 20 meeting. The proposal calls for the borough’s real estate tax rate to stay at 3.73 mills, with residents owning property with an assessed value of $100,000 continuing to pay the borough $373 on their tax bill.

Borough manager Scot Fodi said that the majority of revenue come from real estate, earned income and local service taxes.

He said the borough will maintain a fund balance throughout the year to help close the $300,000 deficit. The balance represents a surplus from previous budgets, when the council overestimated expenditures and underestimated revenues. Fodi predicted the borough will have about $690,000 in the fund balance by the end of 2024.

Notable expenditures include the addition of a full-time police officer scheduled to start in January. The borough also plans to replace a 2009 ¾-ton truck in the streets department.

Fodi said $30,000 will be dedicated to the maintenance of the Kerr Memorial Museum, a onetime Oakmont residence that portrays middle-class family life in the late 19th century. He said that a bigger project next year will be waterproofing the museum basement, and the borough has the option to ask the Kerr Foundation for support if needed.

The borough’s paving program is estimated at $375,000, with $194,000 coming from the state.

“That’s a healthy road program for asphalt for a community of our size,” Fodi said.

Between road, brick and sidewalk repairs, the paving program and the stormwater fund, the borough is planning to spend just under $1 million toward infrastructure.

Fodi said the borough’s current capital reserve is $954,374. Some of the money is planned to be put toward future projects, and a portion will be dedicated to Parkview Fire/EMS, the emergency medical services provider for Oakmont. From the capital reserve, the borough has amassed an emergency reserve of $300,000.

The borough has been using three- and six-month certificate of deposit investments.

“We’re starting to see some of our CDs mature from the summer, so we’re renewing them for another six months,” Fodi said.

The borough still has about $370,000 in American Rescue Plan Act money that needs to be dedicated to a stormwater and infrastructure project by the end of 2024.

The budget must be adopted by the end of the year. Council’s next regular meeting is Dec. 18.

Residents can visit oakmontborough.com to read the budget summary by the end of the week.