Borough Council President and Chairman of Administration and Finance Committee, Mr. Barry Mastrangelo offered the proposed 2015 Budget for introduction at a council meeting on Tuesday, February 17, 2015. Mastrangelo offered the following budget message as his introduction: It is my pleasure Madame Mayor to make the motion to introduce the 2015 Municipal Budget. The Borough Administrator Jill Gougher along with Chief Financial Officer James Craft began the process back in September of 2014 providing expenditure histories and worksheet forms to all Department Heads. They were instructed to schedule at least two meetings with their Council Committees to discuss all budget requests. The Administration and Finance committee charged all departments with the task to maintain or reduce their budget from the 2014 level wherever possible. The focus of 2015 was to be on Dredging of the Back Bays and the Construction of a new Public Safety Building. The 2015 Budget as presented this evening will allow the Borough to begin these much needed projects while continuing to provide our residents with the high quality of service they expect. A copy of the 2015 Budget will be posted on our website and sent to the POA and various media outlets for our property owners to review. On April 7th the Borough will hold a Public Hearing on the proposed budget. At that time residents may ask questions. Residents are encouraged to review the budget documents that will be placed online prior to the Public Hearing. If they have any questions, concerns or recommendations please send them to the Borough Administrator who will share them with all of Council. At this time I would like to turn it over to the Borough Administrator and Chief Financial Officer for additional information prior to taking a vote on Introduction.

Borough Administrator Gougher thanked all the Department Heads and Council Committees for all their hard work putting the 2015 Budget together. Gougher further stated that “I will let Jim go into a little more detail but just wanted to highlight that the Amount to Be Raised by Taxation will increase by $354,350. This increase is needed to cover the additional Capital Down payment money needed to fund capital projects in 2015 including the $300,000 down payment for Back Bay Dredging. The $354,350 equates to .7 of a cent increase.”

Chief Financial Officer, James Craft reviewed the changes over last year’s budget appropriations. Salary and Wages decreased overall by $156,697 while Other Appropriations increased by $695,445 for a net overall increase of $538,748. The two primary increases were $488,500 for Capital Projects and Capital Improvement Fund and $111,686 for increase in insurance costs. To offset the $538,748 in appropriations the Borough is able to utilize an additional $153,633 in Surplus and $28,765 in other revenues. The balance of the appropriation increase will be offset by an additional amount to be raised by taxation of $35,350.00. Click on the following links to review more detailed information about the 2015 Municipal Budget:

STONE HARBOR – BUDGET Introduction 2015                                                                  2015 Budget Presentation