There is good news and bad news based on the report in the Express-Times regarding the Nazareth Borough Budget for 2012 (read the article here). The bad news is that the hike will be 14% which equals $50 on a property assessed at $100,000.The good news is that the borough has held the line on taxes from 2004-2009, but like everyone else, the cost of everything is up, so go the taxes. The budget also includes several capital projects. Most of these will receive matching funding from other sources based on the investment of the borough, so I understand wanting to take advantage of that money to reduce costs. What I don't understand is the history of the Spring Street Project. These residents have complained about the state of their 'street'. Money has been set aside to fix it. The 'street' is the former driveway of the home sitting across from the borough park. When the home was sold in popped a bunch of homes. Apparently the developer did no work on the driveway, it got turned over to the borough, became a street, and now the taxpayers have to fix it? Will be talking to some folks to see what more I can find out as this doesn't sound right. All in all, the borough council is typically good at containing costs, but strangely absent in the article was much/any mention of the police department, whose budget has been increasing significantly in the past several years. These cost increases are the primary driver for the merger discussions.
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