Five Things to Know About the Emmaus 2012 Budget

• The proposed 2012 budget for the borough of Emmaus is available for review in as of 8 a.m. today. It took three rounds of voting at last night’s Emmaus Borough Council meeting, including a recess to redo some math calculations, to get it there.
• That budget, which made it through preliminary approval by a close 4-3 vote, covers an approximately $60,000 shortfall with a millage increase. For taxpayers, the millage increase equals about $10 per year.
• During the nip-tuck process last night, borough council voted to lower the maximum salary for the incoming borough manager from $89,000 a year to $80,000. The savings from that decision will put about $3,000 back into the General Fund, but amounts to no appreciable savings for Emmaus taxpayers.
• The Summer Concert Series in is also potentially on the chopping block. The decision on whether the borough will provide funds to the concert series hinges on whether the borough is responsible for contracts that have already been signed for the 2012 concert program. If it is determined that the borough can legally get out of contracts already signed, the concert series funding can be removed when council looks at the budget again at its next meeting on Dec. 19.
• $5,000 in funding to the remains in the budget despite efforts to cut the monies and make the EMSP self-sufficient. Borough Councilman Mike Waddell, one of the strongest advocates for continuing to fund EMSP, said that $5,000 is a small price for the borough to pay for what EMSP does, adding that some municipalities pay a salaried staffer $30,000-$50,000 a year to fulfill a similar role.

“I have been a supporter of the Main Street Partners and will continue to support them,” Waddell said. “Someone has to do the work of advocating for business downtown, we don’t have anyone who does it. We need someone who keeps the downtown viable, to me this is a small investment and it benefits 100 percent of Emmaus.”