Budget Planning for 2025

One of the most important tasks New Cumberland Borough staff undertakes each year is development and management of the annual budget, which operates on a calendar year, January to December. The Borough Manager is charged with preparing and submitting the budget to Borough Council for consideration and adoption each year.

In August and September, staff prepares a draft of the coming year’s budget. In October and November, Borough Council conducts budget workshops. These meetings are always advertised on the website and are open to the public to attend in person. The budget meetings for 2025 were held on October 21st at 6:30pm and a follow-up meeting was held on October 29th at 6:30pm. Both meetings were held in Council Chambers at the borough office. During these meetings Borough Council reviews and provides input on the proposed budgets for each of our funds, which includes General, Capital Improvements, and Liquid Fuels. At the conclusion of these meetings a Borough Council reviewed draft is introduced to the public and put on display in November with the goal of adoption at the December Borough Council Meeting.

The draft budget being reviewed by Council may be viewed here.

As with any budget, there are 2 main columns: money we bring in (revenue) and money we pay out (expenditures).

The Borough’s budget is also comprised of two primary sections: the Operating budget and Capital Improvements budget. Each of these sections has its own revenue and expenditures columns. We’ll start with the Operating budget.

The Operating budget is what it takes to run the Borough and comprises about 65 percent of the total budget. It is divided into ten categories. In total there are roughly 85-line items in the Operating Budget.

• General Government – includes office staff salaries, legal fees, office supplies, utilities, etc.

• Public Safety (Police) – police, fire police and crossing guard salaries; gas and maintenance for the patrol cars, radios, traffic lights, etc.

• Public Safety (Fire) – Chief and Deputy Chief stipends, communications, fire vehicle maintenance, gas and repairs, etc.

• Code Enforcement and Zoning – the salary of the Codes Enforcement Officer and engineering fees, etc.

• Trash/Recycling – This service is contracted to a trash hauler. The Borough passes this fee along to the residents.

• Public Works – salaries of the work crews, maintenance and repair of buildings, snow and leaf removal, street lights, gas and maintenance of vehicles, street repairs, etc.

• Library – New Cumberland is one of the few PA municipalities that actually owns the library. Although the library is part of the Cumberland County Library System, the building and grounds are owned and maintained by the Borough. The library receives funding and support primarily from the County, Borough, and State.

• Parks and Recreation – maintenance and repair of parks, summer worker salaries, park utilities, etc. New Cumberland joins five other local municipalities to support the West Shore Recreation Commission. We pay a per capita fee to West Shore Rec to provide recreation opportunities for our residents.

• Senior Center – maintenance and repairs to the West Shore Senior Center.

• Benefits, Withholding and Insurance – Unemployment and Workers compensation, retirement, Social Security payments and insurance, etc.

The revenue for the Operating budget comes from two main sources: the Real Estate tax (40%) and the Earned Income tax (20%). We share the Earned Income Tax revenue with the school district. Other revenue comes from fees, fines, rentals, grants, and investments. For 2025 the Borough will be implementing a $52.00 Local Services Tax and is considering a 5% tax increase. As a built-out community, New Cumberland is not able to realize a increasing tax base or population growth through development, seen in many nearby townships. Inflation, increasing cost of goods, and wage COLA’s exceed the minimal revenue growth from the Borough’s two main revenue streams, real estate tax and earned income tax.

The Capital Improvement Budget includes replacing police cars on a regular basis; Borough Office renovations; emergency radio upgrades; replacing dump trucks, fire trucks and backhoes when needed; sidewalk ramps for wheelchairs; improvements to the downtown area and the Borough’s parks; and consultant and engineering fees for master development plans.

The revenue for the Capital Improvement budget comes from grants (which we often must match), interest from investments, cell tower rental income and transferring funds from the Borough’s Capital Reserve. Most of the current Capital reserve is from the sale of the sewage treatment plant in 2016.

In general, the Operating Budget is rather rigid. Over the years the staff has grown or shrunk to accommodate workload or budget constraints. Sometimes a position will go from part-time to full-time, or vice-versa. Building or equipment upgrades can be delayed, if necessary, but this is what it takes to run the Borough. The Capital Improvement Budget can be more discretionary, perhaps, but one can only put off replacing a police car or fire truck, or repairing a park pavilion or garage roof, for so long. Many of the projects in the Capital Improvement Budget are funded by county, state, and federal grants, although the Borough often has to match the grant. The good news is that for every dollar we spend in a matching grant, we generate two and sometimes three dollars’ worth of purchasing power.