AVALON – At its March 23 meeting, Avalon Borough Council adopted the borough’s 2022 budget. The budget maintains the local purpose property tax rate at $0.199.
The action marks the seventh straight year in which the borough has adopted a municipal budget with no increase in the tax rate.
Mayor Martin Pagliughi said the task of meeting the borough’s needs without raising taxes was complicated by “record-high inflation on the national level.”
The situation, Pagliughi said, “Obliges us more than ever to validate every dollar spent in the best interest of the community.”
The $32.7 million municipal budget was amended at the council meeting to account for the rising cost of solid waste and recycling services, which have been impacted by high labor and fuel expenses.
The budget includes a $600,000 appropriation for emergency beach and dredging projects, a capital spending plan that uses no long-term debt financing, and ongoing investments in public safety departments. The borough has allocated $14 million in payments toward short-term debt over two budget cycles.
Also adopted was a $7.6 million budget for the borough’s dedicated water and sewer utility, along with a $2.2 million budget for the beach utility.
