2020 Pottstown Budget Would Raise Taxes by 4.25%

Photos by Evan Brandt

If you had three hours to kill last night, you would have struggled to find a more productive way to spend it than by attending the borough council work session.

A wide variety of important topics were discussed, including the budget and the future of the Ricketts Community Center.

But first let's have some fun.

This year is the 100th anniversary of the Dana Corp, whose Spicer division plant is still going strong on Center Street in the borough.

Last night, council provided a proclamation honoring the company for its longevity, how many people it has employed and all it has done for Pottstown.

Here's the video:



Also always fun is Mayor Stephanie Henrick's monthly report, always chock full of activities and good news. Here's that video:



And what council meeting blog would be complete without the accompanying video of Borough Manager Justin Keller's gripping monthly report. Here's that video:


Now that we're got that under our belt, here's what I'm going to do.

It's already after midnight and there is no way for me to do justice to all the things that happened last night. So I will attempt to do justice to one -- the $45.3 million budget.

Improvements to the borough budget as a result of the EIP study.

The news appears to be comparatively good, at least when you compare it with the last two budgets that brought  11 percent and 9 percent tax hikes respectively.

With property values rising, fewer assessment challenges are successful and property transfer tax revenues are more than expected because Pottstown properties are not lingering on the real estate market.

The borough even got a break in terms of tax-exempt properties, which actually went down by 13 parcels in 2019, many of them due to the return of the YMCA property on North Adams Street.

If all 313 of the tax-exempt parcels in the borough (except school district and borough-owned properties), were back on the tax rolls, the borough would enjoy another $1.8 million in annual revenues.

Bottom line? The draft budget outlined last night would raise property taxes by 4.25 percent if adopted unchanged. And it appears there is a possibility council may act on this budget at its Monday night meeting.

This chart shows that taxpayers' unfunded liability for paying health
care costs for retired police and long-time managers is $28.4 million

Good news aside, Pottstown's finances still face challenges, not the least of which are pension liabilities and the $28 million unfunded liability of health benefits for retired police officers and long-time managers.

Borough Manager Justin Keller said some progress has been on that front, with the new contract for non-uniformed workers included a clause that will put all new employees in a "defined contribution" pension plan, similar to at 401K plan, instead of the traditional and more expensive "defined benefit" pension plan.

The borough must also create a capital expense plan said Keller and Finance Director Janice Lee, advice offered both by a bond rating service and by the Early Intervention Program report offered this spring.

The proposed budget calls for $100,000 to be transferred into the fund to begin saving for things like

All but one of Pottstown's fire trucks are 10 years old or older.

new police cars, new fire trucks and, perhaps most significantly from a cost standpoint, the borough's crumbling stormwater arches.

As it does every year, the borough is going to ask owners of tax exempt properties if they would like to make a "payment in lieu of taxes." New this year, will be an offer to allow them to instead made a direct contribution to something on the capital budget list of needs.

For example, in 2017, The Hill School donated $200,000 to the borough specifically to pay for new police cars.

If adopted unchanged, the 2020 budget's tax hike would result in a $46 increase for a property  assessed at $85,000 or $54 increase for home assessed at $100,000, said Lee.

And now I will bid you all good night. If you're looking for me, check out the Tweets from the meeting here:

Dana at 100, Census, Budget and Ricketts Center