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- The city of New Philadelphia, facing a budget shortfall in 2024, plans to move money from the cemetery fund to the general fund to create a balanced budget.
- Officials warn that while this solution will get the city through 2024, New Philadelphia’s finances need a long-term solution.
NEW PHILADELPHIA – The city has created a balanced budget for 2024 by moving money from the cemetery fund to the general fund, but officials warn it won’t solve New Philadelphia’s money problems. ing.
“We can’t keep passing budgets like this. We have to do something different,” Comptroller Beth Gandy warned City Council members at a recent Finance Committee meeting.
To close an expected revenue shortfall of about $350,000, Mayor Joel Day and chiefs have announced spending cuts of $78,500, with $280,000 to be moved from the cemetery fund to the general fund. There was a surplus in the cemetery fund. Even after transferring that money, there will still be $220,000 left in the fund.
“We understand that the choices we made were not easy,” said Councilman Steve Lipes, who chairs the finance committee. “We didn’t take them lightly either. Taking money out of the cemetery fund was not something we did rashly. We believe that if we talk to the mayor, we can make the cemetery budget a reality. Masu.”
He praised the work of Mr. Day, Mr. Gundy, General Counsel Marvin Fete, department heads, and Rea & Associates for their work in putting together the plan.
He pointed out that with this budget, no employees would lose their jobs, no services would be cut, and no income tax increases would be necessary.
A few years ago, the City Council increased the amount transferred from income tax revenue to the cemetery fund from 3% to 7%. At the time, the city’s East Avenue Cemetery was nearly full, and the only money coming into the cemetery fund came from the sale of one or two plots a year. Now, with the opening of the new Schoenbrunn Meadows Cemetery in southeastern Delaware, the city receives about $100,000 a year from selling cemetery plots.
“Kick the can on the road”
Councilman Chris Kleinbeer said he still believes there are problems with the budget. “When I look at this, I think we’re wasting our efforts,” he said. “This will solve the problem until 2024, but I am worried that we will be in trouble in 2025.”
“The problem is not going away in the future,” Lipes said. “We acknowledged that in our discussions. This was to get us through 2024. There are things we are working on moving forward, to bring back some of the (state) local government funds that were taken away. We’re looking at other sources of income. I think of it as a two-step process. We need to have a budget that we can pass, a budget that is workable. , we can get to that point. In the future, this is not a solution. This is a Band-Aid, not a surgery to fix it.”
The budget has not yet been approved by the full parliament.
Contact Jon at 330-364-8415 or jon.baker@timesreporter.com.
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