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Columbia Borough residents and officials attending the finance committee meeting Wednesday learned about three looming financial challenges which are expected to require more than $1.2 million in revenue to balance the budget.
Due to the severity of the budget crunch, the borough will hold a special council meeting at 6 p.m. Dec. 2 to discuss any new developments and options. The meeting will be held in the borough building, 308 Locust St.
Norm Meiskey, borough manager, told residents and officials Wednesday about the three separate budget blows, ones which he said the borough hopes "to solve without a 2010 tax increase."
The biggest impending budget problem involves the borough's capital improvements fund. Because of multiple large-scale projects — such as the borough's involvement in the sale of a former silk mill at Third and Linden streets and the upgrades to Columbia Borough River Park — the fund needs a transfusion of more than $973,000 to stay in the black.
The reason for the shortfall, Meiskey said, has to do with grants the borough is expecting from state agencies such as the Department of Community and Economic Development in Harrisburg. Because the grant money is not expected to come in until later in 2010, the borough must pay for site work now under way.
According to published reports, the former mill is being demolished to make way for the new Turkey Hill Experience, a $10 million to $12 million attraction and visitors' center allowing visitors to learn about farm life and make their own ice cream.
The renovations to Columbia Borough River Park, according to newspaper files, are expected to cost $7 million and include expanding parking, constructing new docks, restoring the shoreline and building a pedestrian walkway.
Columbia also is facing a personnel problem. Meiskey said borough police Chief Joseph Greenya has accumulated more than 250 days of unused vacation, sick days and holiday leave. He said the chief's retirement "could come any day."
In order to pay for any upcoming compensated absences, Meiskey said the borough needs to budget an additional $130,000 worth of funds for paid leave.
Finally, Meiskey said, the borough is facing a 19.7 percent increase in the cost of health insurance premiums from the Pittsburgh-based insurance company Highmark.
The increase, expected to total an additional $114,894.60, would make the borough's monthly health insurance premiums jump from $48,577.02 a month to $58,151.57 a month.
Aaron Billger, a spokesman for Highmark, said Nov. 12 the increase in the cost of the borough's health insurance premiums is "in line with current industry rates increases."
"Those increases are being driven primarily by the cost of health care," Billger said. "Currently, 91 cents of every dollar goes to pay for the delivery of care, including physicians' costs, hospital stays and the price of pharmaceuticals."
At the meeting on Wednesday, Meiskey said the borough found a different plan offered by Harrisburg-based Capital Blue Cross. The alternate plan would save the borough $33,277 over the current Highmark plan.
Benefits, he said, are comparable to what Highmark offers, though there would be a $10 increase in co-pays for doctors' visits (going from $10 to $20) and a $35 co-pay for nongeneric drugs.
The borough, he said, plans to discuss possible changes regarding health insurance with the Columbia Borough Police Officer's Association and nonuniformed employees represented by Pennsylvania Social Services Union Local 668.
Meiskey said talks with the two union groups are scheduled to take place within the next two weeks in anticipation of the Dec. 2 meeting.
Mary Wickenheiser, a member of council and the finance committee, said Wednesday, "We can't finalize a budget unless the health insurance gets solved.
"If we stay with what we have, we're talking a health insurance increase of $115,000 more," Wickenheiser said. "That alone is a jump of almost half a mill (in property taxes). That's a very serious increase."
