The State College Borough Council will continue to discuss changes to the proposed 2013 budget, which will be finalized in the next two weeks, at its meeting tonight.
Mayor Elizabeth Goreham said that this is the first meeting where the public has a formal time to give their opinions about the budget, as a public hearing will take place during the meeting.
“With this budget being a year without any tax increases, we expect relatively little objections from the public,” she said.
Council member Ron Filippelli said a lot of progress has been made with the budget over the last few weeks.
He said he doesn’t assume any problems with passing the budget and expects the passing vote to go smoothly.
Council member Jim Rosenberger said budget topics that will be discussed at this week’s meeting will include general fund revenues, budgetary policies, ordinance enforcement and public health.
The planning, redevelopment and police sections are always special concerns with the budget, with police taking up almost half of the budget, she said.
The State College Police Department is required to employ 65 full-time personnel, but currently does not have the numbers that fulfill that total, Goreham said.
She said the police hires that will be needed to meet the full staff might be discussed to focus on the appropriate staffing level for next year.
Rosenberger said other important topics will be the Bellaire Court fund, which helps with housing for low-income and the elderly, and a work session will give an opportunity for the redevelopment authority to update their projects.
The borough will be working with the town and gown area to help to create housing for students and people living downtown, Goreham said.
Rosenberger also said he expects the regular meeting to be fairly routine, and council will approve the Memorial Field drainage system agreement that will fix the sink hole by State College Area High School and the borough.
The meeting will be held at 7:30 p.m. in the State College Municipal Building, located at 243 S. Allen St.
