At the latest Palmyra Council meeting, Borough Administrator John Gural discussed his discovery of a number of discrepancies in the tax information presented by the Palmyra School District during its 2019-2020 budget presentation and posted on the district website.
Earlier this month, Gural notified the board of education of these discrepancies, and the district has since updated the tax information posted on its website.
“On May 14, 2019, the Palmyra borough administrator notified the board of education office of a discrepancy in the tax information presented in the original PowerPoint presentation. Upon further review, it was noted that there had been an error(s) in transferring 2018-2019 tax information to the PowerPoint. This resulted in a number of inaccurate year-over-year comparison totals,” reads a statement by Business Administrator William Blatchley, added to the district’s 2019-2020 budget information available on its website.
“There were a number of representations, both in the newspaper and in the school district’s budget presentation that indicated that the district was reducing taxes this year in the amount of $4.12. However, last week CFO Donna Condo received the district’s 2019-2020 tax levy schedule, which indicated a tax increase in the amount of $181,160. Obviously those two statements can’t be reconciled,” said Gural. “That raised a number of flags for us because, first of all, we’re responsible for collecting taxes, but secondly, the school district’s tax levy affects our budget.”
The average school tax bill for residents originally appeared to decrease from $3,260.60 last year to where it stands currently at $3,256.47.
The district’s revised 2018-2019 information now shows the average school tax bill for residents was set at $3,202.66, indicating instead an increase to the current 2019-2020 amount of $3,256.47.
Rather than a decrease of $4.12, owners of an average assessed property in Palmyra will see a four-cent increase, according to Superintendent Brian McBride.
In other news:
Mayor Michelle Arnold announced updated information on the wall mural honoring the history of Palmyra outside of Tony’s Barber Shop.
At the council’s previous meeting, the shop’s owner, Joe Ventura, appeared during public portion to discuss with council the completion of the lower portion of the mural on the wall of his building.
“I did meet with Tony, we do have some ideas,” said Arnold.
According to the mayor, the two discussed a plexiglass surface featuring plaques or tiles honoring Palmyra’s businesses and indicating the year they were established. She indicated she would have pricing information and pictures to present at the council’s next meeting.
Councilwoman Mindie Weiner reported on a recent meeting held between herself, Councilwoman Gina Tait, Councilwoman Bernadette Russell and several Palmyra business owners to discuss issues they may have with parking in the borough’s business district.
According to Weiner, they identified two primary concerns from the local business community in regard to parking – one being general parking enforcement and one in regard to the one-hour parking limit on Broad Street not allowing enough time for several businesses to properly serve their patrons.
“We discussed the idea of making all of the business district two-hour parking,” said Weiner. “This is going to help businesses like the restaurants, the barber shop, Mr. Bill’s – if you are buying a bike it may take more than an hour.”
Arnold suggested the council members involved in the meeting with the business owners meet with Police Chief Scott Pearlman to discuss what changes could be implemented and how.
