Borough Borrows to Pay Tax Appeals

The Borough Council voted Tuesday to make an emergency appropriation of $500,000 to help pay for tax appeals that have come due.

The Borough needs to pay the appeals immediately before a 60-day waiting period expires and it has to start paying interest on the appeals, Councilman Alan Brundage said.

"I'm not sending up the signal flares that we're sinking or anything, but we're at the point where we need to unfortunately borrow the money in order to not default, which would cost us more money," he said.

Brundage expects the tax appeal situation to abate only once the economy turns around and property values increase. Though it was legally termed an "emergency" appropriation, Brundage isn't surprised that the Borough needed the extra money, and he doesn't expect it to be the last time, as appeals keep coming in.

"We certainly knew that the flow of appeals was not going to stop," Brundage said.

Borough Auditor Frank DiMaria said the Borough will have to bond to to replenish its surplus. Until DiMaria negotiates the terms of that bond, the impact on next year's budget is unclear.