At 7:30 pm Tuesday, May 9, a Borough of Newtown meeting of property owners and electors will decide the fate of the Borough’s proposed 2023-24 budget of $250,420.

The meeting will be conducted in the Edmond Town Hall gymnasium.

The proposed mill rate will be .67 mills, a .09 decrease from the 2022-23 mill rate of .76 mills. The mill rate has been refigured and lowered because of revaluation.

Borough Warden Jay Maher said that the Borough’s grand list increased from approximately $257 million to approximately $337 million. A mill equals $1 in taxation for every $1,000 in taxable property.

Maher said on a property in the Borough that had been recently seen a tax appraised reevaluation increase of 30 percent, the annual increase in the Borough tax will rise from $231 to $270 annually.

The proposed budget of $250,420 is a $25,800 or 11 percent increase from the 2022-23 budget of $224,820.

The largest increase, according to Maher, comes for fire hydrants; the line item for fire hydrants increased from $70,000 in 2022-23 to $90,000 in 2023-24, a $20,000 increase.

“The costs for fire hydrants has skyrocketed over the past few years,” Maher said. “The Borough pays roughly $8,000 a month on hydrants and the infrastructure in the ground.”

Other increases include $3,000 for streets and parks, and a $2,000 increase for street lights.

Senior Burgess Chris Gardner said the budget was “solid,” and that the “biggest nut” is always fire hydrants and water.

“The unfortunate reality is that it’s out of control with Aquarion’s rates,” said Gardner. “This is a problem town-wide and state-wide.”

Gardner said that the Borough had negotiated a competitive rate with an outside agency for electricity for street lights, which reduced the increase.

“I’m happy that account remained stable,” said Gardner.

The Borough cut money for legal fees and raised the expected tax collection rate from 98.5 percent to 99 percent; Gardner said he has every confidence the Borough’s tax collector will be able to collect that rate. Increasing the expected tax collection rate keeps the mill rate lower by projecting higher revenue.

Gardner characterized both the hydrants and the street lights as public safety items that are a “vital resource” to the Borough.

“This budget is a good value for the Borough’s taxpayers,” said Gardner. “I wish it could be less, and I wish the mill rate could be less. We scraped every nook we could [for possible cuts]. Overall this is a good budget.”

At an election on May 1, the make-up of the Borough’s boards, commissions, and officials remained the same, as all candidates ran unopposed. There were 39 residents who cast a vote out of 1,428 eligible, a 2.7 percent turnout.

Maher received 39 votes for warden; James Gaston received 35 votes for burgess; Maureen Crick Owen received 37 votes for burgess; Meghann Buck received 34 votes for burgess; Ann Scaia received 37 votes for clerk; Paula Brinkman received 38 votes for treasurer; Jodie Enriquez received 38 votes for tax collector; John Madzula received 36 votes for the Board of Assessment Appeals; Douglas Nelson received 34 votes for the Zoning Commission; Richard Davis received 37 votes for Zoning Commission alternate; and Peter Schwartz received 36 votes for Zoning Board of Appeals.

Associate Editor Jim Taylor can be reached at jim@thebee.com.