Tarentum Council schedules special meeting for budget vote, no tax increase expected

Tarentum Council spent the past several weeks tweaking its proposed $11 million budget for next year, but one thing has remained the same: Residents should not see a real estate tax increase.

The property tax rate is expected to remain at 5.48 mills, the same as it has been for 15 years.

If approved, the owner of a home assessed at $100,000 would again pay $548 to the borough.

Council will have a special meeting at 6 p.m. Monday, Dec. 20, at the borough building, 318 Second Ave., to vote on the budget.

Borough Manager Michael Nestico said council canceled its regular meeting Dec. 7 to allow time to iron out details.

“There’s no changes to the bottom lines,” council President Scott Dadowski said. “The tweaks are more about where to transfer small amounts of money from and how to spend it efficiently.”

Residents are able to review a copy of the budget at the borough office.

Dadowski said council members have been talking about how to focus on redevelopment of the business district, parks and other spaces after years of earmarking much of its capital improvement money to the borough’s ongoing anti-blight initiative.

Tax dollars this year paid for four demolition projects totaling nearly $220,000.

“I would love to see the continued growth of the business district,” Dadowski said. “From where we were a couple of years ago to where we are now, we’ve gone light years. I’d love to see that push continue.”

Council members have been weighing in on where best to shift their focus.

Parks could take center stage since the borough has a newly formed environmental advisory committee. Some members might want to make the West Tarentum business corridor the priority.

Either way, Dadowski said, public input will be sought before work is started.

“I would love to repave the parking lot at the water plant, but I also realize that that money could be used somewhere else,” Dadowski said. “We’re going to look really closely at each line in the budget, at the small details, to see how to best use the money.”