Nov 26, 2003 By Patty Shultz 3 min read

CONNELLSVILLE – A divided city council approved a 2004 tentative budget Tuesday that calls for no tax increase and includes raises for non-union employees and for the street and fire departments. The council approved the tentative budget on a 3-2 vote, with Mayor Judy Reed and council members Judy Keller and John Whalen supporting the measure and members Bruce Jaynes and Chris Wagner opposing it.

While the plan includes a 2-percent salary increase for all non-union employees and a 4-percent contractual increase for members of the street and fire departments, the city has not reached an agreement with the police department, but the plan includes a 2-percent salary hike for the officers.

To balance the $2.215 million budget, the council will tap a $103,830 reserve investment account and use $107,000 in state liquid fuels funding.

Jaynes, who oversees the street department, opposed the use of the state funding, which partially funds his department. “There has got to be a better way to do this,” he said.

Jaynes suggested that the council choose among the following to help eliminate a $221,000 deficit in the budget:

– Raise taxes.

– Tap a parking lot, storm sewer and investment account of $50,000 each and a similar amount from a savings account to equalize the expenditures and revenues.

– Raise anticipated income amounts derived from business privilege and earned income taxes and funds raised through the collection of fines.

Additionally, he said the budget did not include an allocation to New Haven Hose Volunteer Fire Co. or a substantial salary increase for city clerk David Pinkosky, as he had suggested during the budget planning sessions.

Jaynes also said he did not support the splitting of the health officer and code enforcement officer positions, as indicated in the budget, or the cutting of a part-time office clerk position in the accounts and finance department.

Keller, who formulated the budget, cautioned the council about raising revenue amounts to balance a budget.

“If you over-inflate your revenue and you don’t get that money and you overspend, then you’ll end the year in the red instead of in the black,” she said. “That’s the first no-no in basic economics.”

Keller said using liquid fuels money to defray material costs and overtime salaries is proper, and she would refuse to support any proposal to use funding set aside for parking lot maintenance.

“I went to businesses and asked them to donate for parking lot maintenance,” she said, “not to donate for the street department, police department, tax office or anybody else. That money was donated to maintain the parking lots now and in the future. If that money is used for anything else, we will have deceived those that donated the money, and I will not be part of that deception.”

Councilman John Whalen said Jaynes’ criticism of the lack of funding designated to New Haven in 2004 was unwarranted, because the city will earmark $75,000 to the organization through state funds for the purchase of a newly acquired pumper truck.

“You can’t say we didn’t give them anything,” said Whalen.

The public will have access to the tentative plan until Dec. 29, council probably will adopt the final budget.