No tax increase in Duncansville budget | News, sports, jobs

DUNCANSVILLE – Savings in workers’ compensation insurance costs allowed the Borough of Duncansville to approve a preliminary 2025 budget without a tax increase during a meeting Tuesday night.

The original plan was to present the preliminary budget for discussion at the Nov. 12 meeting, to be voted on at a second meeting near the end of the month, but the discussion revealed scheduling conflicts.

State law requires municipal budgets to be available for review for 10 business days before they can be formally adopted.

Because the calendar is already segmented with holidays during the months of November and December, the City Council agreed to approve the preliminary budget ahead of schedule to meet the full duration of the exhibit requirement.

Borough Manager Rodney Estep said his plan was to meet with the council’s budget committee before the possible second meeting in November, to allow for a final review before it would be voted on.

“It’s too good for me to believe it all right now, so I really want (Budget Committee Chairman Dave Shaw to see the budget revisited),” Estep said. “I want to make sure it’s an accurate reflection of everything we have.”

For 2024, the municipality has budgeted total incoming revenue of $561,239.88 to cover $546,783.84 in expenses.

At the end of November, the municipality had received $885,476.88 in revenue, compared to $651,888.11 in actual expenditures.

This windfall is due in large part to unexpected savings on insurance costs, required pension contributions and workers’ compensation claims of municipal employees, engineering costs and partial reimbursement of certain municipal expenses through an agreement with Allegheny and Blair Townships.

The 2025 budget lists $574,270.94 in revenue to cover $565,629.68 in expenses – a surplus of $8,641.26, according to a breakdown of budget items provided by the council.

Duncansville officials expect the sale of the current municipal building to provide a new source of revenue in 2025, although the majority of this revenue will go toward the costs of an ongoing two-phase renovation project of the community center building.

According to Estep, the city recently toured a potential buyer for the property, but did not receive an offer for the building.

After a brief discussion, the council agreed that the preliminary budget accurately reflects the council’s finances and should be voted on at the meeting to avoid planning issues with the necessary exhibition period.

“If (Shaw) is happy, we’re happy,” Councilwoman Nicole Estep said.

The 2025 budget will be on display at the district office in the community center building and will be voted on for final adoption at the next meeting on December 9.