This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Politics & Government

Forest Hills Approves 2011 Budget

Borough holds the line on property taxes despite an increase in costs

Forest Hills Borough Council Wednesday approved the 2011 budget, holding last year's property tax rate in the midst of climbing costs.

While the property tax rate holds at 8.35 mills, or $8.35 per $1,000 of a property's value, the general fund budget rose from roughly $5.6 million in 2010 to $5.8 million, a 4.67 percent increase.  Residents will see a $10 hike in fees for trash and recycling as well as increases in fees for recreation.

Council member Devon Wood, a member of the finance committee, said the new budget was a win for residents.

Find out what's happening in Forest Hills-Regent Squarewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"A lot of the other boroughs around us have had to make significant cutbacks in either their staffing or programming," Wood said. "For me, the greatest challenge was having a zero tax increase without eliminating the quality of services."

During the meeting, residents did not comment on the budget when given the opportunity. Mayor Marty O'Malley, Borough President Frank Porco and Finance Committee Chair Markus Erbeldinger were absent from the meeting.

Find out what's happening in Forest Hills-Regent Squarewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

How long the borough will be able to balance its budget without raising taxes is unclear, but council members said doing so will become increasingly difficult in the coming years. 

"I'm here to serve the residents of the borough and I'm trying to do what is best," said Council Vice President Bill Tomasic. "You have to balance the service and the cost with everything that you do. Where do you draw the line? Where do you cut it off?"

Public safety expenditures make up 30 percent of the 2011 budget, nearly double the 16 percent spent on public works. Twenty-seven percent of the budget supports the police force.

"The costs are extremely high in the general budget for public safety expenditures," Tomasic said.

Talks have lingered over merging the Forest Hills police with neighboring boroughs since 2005, according to council member Mike Belmonte. Belmonte urged council to act by January on a proposed study that would assess the outcome of a merger between Forest Hills and Edgewood police forces. 

The study is free and it's conclusions are not binding, Belmonte said.

"Our police departments want this," he said. "There's a willingness on the part of the officers."

A merger could reduce the amount Forest Hills spends on its police, but Tomasic said he's hesitant to speculate before the study is completed.

Regardless, Tomasic said, the borough will have to find a way to cut costs if it wants to hold the line on property taxes.

"Everybody's under the gun on this and the problem that you have is that you have an aging population, you have a tax base which is staggering and assessments haven't gone up," he said.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?

More from Forest Hills-Regent Square