Elverson Borough Council adopted the final 2015 budget Dec. 2 with discussion of creating a capital reserve and a possible insurance change for the municipality.
The $338,135 budget reflects both income and expense. Quickly and unanimously passed by the council, the budget does not reflect the inclusion of a capital reserve fund, which was a point of discussion for the board at Tuesday’s meeting.
“After the auditors have come through with the audit, we can create a cap reserve,” said Council President Shirley Crehan. “The goal is to create a cap reserve fund of $20,000 that will be added to each year.”
The capital reserve fund would set aside money for specific projects within the borough. In order to set up this reserve, the borough must first conduct a capital reserve study that determines how much money will be needed and to which projects it will be designated.
The goal of creating a capital reserve fund is security for the borough.
“This would be a separate fund set aside for things like street repairs, stuff like that,” said Crehan. “Basically, it’s to make sure we have the money if something comes up.”
Borough Council member Doug Hoskins will assist with the study, and discussion will carry into future meetings.
The council also discussed the budget’s estimated insurance rates for the coming year with concerns about the possibility of switching to a new insurance company.
At October’s meeting, the council agreed to move forward with discussion of a proposal to change from Longley Insurance to the HDH Group, which insures several other municipalities in the area through the Municipal Risk Management Trusts (MRM Trusts).
Crehan met with a broker from BABB, Inc. and found that the cost of insurance through HDH would not be as low as what was predicted last month.
“All of these costs have suddenly changed,” said Crehan. “They’ve included Commercial Crime coverage, and they are adding Cyber Privacy and Liability and Accident and Health.”
The policy would also require Professional Liability coverage and Workers’ Compensation.
“We’re at a point where the cost is equal to what we are paying or slightly more,” said Crehan. “This was supposed to be half the price and better insurance than Longley.”
The council hoped to switch insurance to coincide with the new budget. However, in light of these recent cost estimates, council has decided to table the discussion and move forward with the goal of coming to a decision by May 1, when the current policy expires.
The Municipal Authority of the Borough of Elverson (MABE) has decided to switch to HDH.
Also on November’s agenda, the council will be recruiting a team to implement project planning in conjunction with the recently received Vision Partnership Program (VPP) Grant.
The grant was awarded to the borough in the amount of $46,000 to be matched $19,800 within 18 months.
According to their website, the VPP Grant is designated to a municipality through the Chester County Board of Commissioners “to assist them in achieving consistency with the principles of Landscapes2 through their local planning programs.”
The members of this team will need to be designated by next month before the meetings begin in January. They will meet once a month for two years.
Discussion will continue at the next borough council meeting, which will be held Jan. 6 at 7 p.m. in the Elverson Boro Hall.
Crehan explained to Tri County Record funding for the budget.
“It is through EIT (Earned Income Tax), LST (Local Services Tax for ambulance etc.) real estate transfer tax (when a house is sold), Keystone collections (collects wage tax of 10.00 a person that works), Liquid Fuels tax for snow plowing etc. from the state, Special funds for fire fighters from the state, and it all adds up to our budget,” she said. “Some of our events we count on fundraising such as Elverson Day and the Halloween Parade.”
“As you would guess, EIT, LST, transfer taxes may fluctuate over the years so these numbers have to be reviewed with our historical data from the past 15 years, which we use to arrive at pinpoint numbers for that year’s budget,” she said.
