At the Tuesday, April 8 Borough Board of Burgesses meeting, the burgesses put some finishing touches on the Borough of Newtown’s budget for 2025-2026. The burgesses debated on how much money should be in the legal line item at the March meeting and was continued in the April meeting.

Senior Burgess Chris Gardner first suggested adding $10,000 to the legal line item, raising the total to $40,000. Burgess Jim Gaston, however, suggested keeping the total budget under $30,000.

After some discussion, the burgesses all compromised on a total of $37,000 in the legal line item. With the added $7,000 to the legal line item, the proposed mill rate is .83, or about a $68 increase in borough taxes. The burgesses then voted on the proposed budget of $299,620. The budget passed unanimously and will be presented to the public on Tuesday, May 13.

Community Updates

Following the discussion of the budget, Jay Maher, the warden, informed the board about two trees that need to be replaced at 38 Church Hill Road, or St Rose of Lima Church. Maher explained that the trees would cost $500 each.

The burgesses passed the allocation of $1,000 for the purchase of two trees and Maher said he “will pick them this weekend.” He added that the trees are small, so they can be hand-dug to be planted, saving some cost on excavators.

Maher then shared with the burgesses that the Town & Country Garden Club will be planting the three islands in the Borough on Monday, May 19.

“Annuals have been donated, so it’s not a cost to the Borough,” Maher said.

Later in the meeting, Maher noted that the contractor has made submittals for the crosswalk project at the Church Hill Road and Queen Street intersection. He said that construction could start as early as Mid-May.

Gardner updated the board about the flagpole’s missing finial, too. “The town’s insurance deductible … is $25,000, so this will not fall under that.

“However, the town’s insurer is working with the driver’s insurer,” Gardner said, referring to the truck that hit the flagpole on Sunday, January 26. The impact snapped the metal pole the finial rested on, causing the ball to come crashing down.

Gardner added that he is not sure if the painting of the pole will be “fully covered, so we may have to use the town Flagpole Fund to offset that.”

Maher read the Zoning Officer’s report, saying that the application for a road-side bakery stand at 9 Diamond Drive was revoked, adding that the health department would have to review it.

Allocations

Due to the several public hearings for the proposed development at Castle Hill, three appeals, and now a Freedom of Information Act complaint, the burgesses had to distribute some funds to pay for the legal bills that were accrued.

The bill was $8,890.10. The burgesses had funds left in the fund balance, so they moved $9,000 to pay the remaining bill.

Ann Scaia, the Borough Clerk and Treasurer, then informed the board that there was $474.19 payroll taxes to allocate. Scaia suggested taking the funds from sidewalks, but Maher was against it due to the Church Hill Road and Queen Street crosswalk project coming up.

Scaia took $80 from bonds and insurance, $86.97 from contingency, $10 from the Health District, $100 from Historic District, and $150 from Soldiers & Sailors to make up the funds for payroll taxes.

=====

Reporter Sam Cross can be reached at sam@thebee.com.