The leadership of the Borough of Newtown has changed the previously reported date and location for a  second try at passing a 2019–20 budget.

According to a borough legal notice that appears along with itemized financial details on Page 4 of the May 24, 2019 print edition of The Newtown Bee and in this week’s Bee Extra the budget meeting and vote is scheduled for Thursday, June 6, at 7:30 pm, in the Alexandria Room at Edmond Town Hall.

The vote had initially been scheduled for June 4 in a lower meeting room of the former municipal building at 45 Main Street.

Borough Burgess Christopher Gardner told The Bee that he and other community leaders hoped to provide more room for residents to gather besides the Edmond Town Hall’s lower meeting room, and they were able to secure the upper banquet room for the 6th.

The first attempt for qualified borough residents to pass a budget May 14 was narrowly defeated 30-26.

Following that vote, Mr Gardner said the board of burgesses met and further reduced the proposed budget by another $23,150 to $228,380.

“We removed money from several accounts, including advertising, auxiliary help, consulting, historic district, legal fees, and sidewalks,” Mr Gardner said, adding the largest single reduction was $10,000 to the sidewalks line.

He said the burgesses also agreed to use $50,000 from reserves — up $15,000 from the initially proposed $35,000 — to further offset taxes in the coming fiscal year.

“The borough is in a very strong place financially — the result of very careful attention to spending by the burgesses and unanticipated revenues generated by commercial building projects on Church Hill Road, including the Lexington Gardens development and the new assisted living facility across the street,” Mr Gardner said. “Essentially, we are returning building and permit fees paid by those developers to borough taxpayers, and that is how we are able to significantly reduce people’s taxes and maintain reserves that safeguard the borough in the event of an unanticipated expense.”

The burgess said with the budget reductions and increased use of reserve money, the mill rate will be 0.67 if that second round proposed budget is approved.