Public Meeting Scheduled to Review the Borough’s Final Proposed 2023 Budget
and Discuss the Need for a Tax Increase
It is budget time again in Collegeville Borough, and this year we are facing even more challenges than usual. A meeting has been scheduled to review next year’s proposed budget and to discuss the need for a tax increase on:
Residents can attend in-person at Borough Hall, 491 E. Main St., or attend remotely via Zoom.
Whether you attend in person or via Zoom, everyone with concerns or comments will be given the opportunity to speak. The zoom links and meeting agendas will be posted on the borough’s website https://www.collegeville-pa.gov/ in the calendar section.
Just as all of us have been impacted by inflation, we are also experiencing rising costs in the day-to-day running of our town. The increased cost of supplies, fuel, labor, and utilities are reflected in higher vendor invoices for most of the Borough’s services. Although each year we carefully budget for all costs, these price rises impact our ability to complete projects within our budgets.
In addition to the general cost increases, major increases in two key areas will substantially affect our 2023 budget:
- First, our contract with Whitetail Disposal for trash removal expires at the end of the year. We were fortunate to have bid a five-year contract in 2017 and have benefitted from that fixed price, especially over the last two years, as recycling costs have skyrocketed and labor and fuel have drastically increased. The Borough currently pays $224,000 per year for our trash and recycling. But in this year’s bidding process, the lowest bidder for a comparable trash service was $482,000.
- Second, EMS Services around the country have been experiencing shortfalls in their revenues, and to address that, our EMS service is in currently the process of being regionalized. The good news is that we will continue to be serviced by Trappe Ambulance, with Limerick and other nearby town ambulance services as our back-up. The bad news is that in order to continue our ambulance service, the borough has been requested to pay a minimum additional amount of $55,000 per year.
For more information or questions before the meetings, call the Borough at 610 489-9208 or e-mail us at info@borough.collegeville-pa.gov
