IN Brentwood-Baldwin-Whitehall Spring 2019 | Page 59

BRENTWOOD KEEPS TAX RATE DESPITE
LOOMING BIG-TICKET PROJECTS
Brentwood leaders plan to break ground in 2019 on a
$6 million new municipal building project and $3 million
renovation to the borough’s pool.
However, residents won’t be paying more in real estate
taxes in 2019, and a five-year projection indicates taxes likely
won’t need to go up for those years, borough Manager George
Zboyovsky said.
Borough council members on Dec. 10 agreed to hold the
line on real estate taxes for the fourth straight year at 10 mills.
Property owners with a home assessed at $100,000 will pay an
estimated $1,000 in borough real estate taxes in 2019.
Borough council members also approved Brentwood’s $24
million budget for 2019, which includes $9.03 million in the
general fund, $6.3 million in the sewer fund, $180,000 in the
park fund, $4.1 million in the capital funding including the
pool project, $6 million in the municipal building project fund,
$500,000 in the highway aid fund and $360,000 in reserves for
a “rainy day,” Zboyovsky said.
With the two major projects about to get under way, the
budget has grown from $16.7 million in 2018.
Much of the funding for the projects came from a $7
million bond the borough took out this year, Zboyovsky said.
Brentwood also received nearly $1 million in grants for the
pool project.
“I just scratch my head sometimes with how we’ve been
getting all of these grants,” Zboyovsky said. He credits them to
the hard work of the borough staff and the relationships built
with state leaders.
Council members on Dec. 10 approved the land
development plan for the borough building project,
Zboyovsky said.
Architects now are in the process of finalizing plans for
the new 10,000-square-foot, single-floor municipal building
planned for the former Snee Dairy site at 3735 Brownsville
Road. The municipal building will house the Brentwood Police
Department on one end and administration on the other,
with central public corridors accessing council chambers,
Zboyovsky said.
Brentwood leaders for decades have talked about and
studied the need for a new municipal building, as the century-
old facility they now operate from is quickly deteriorating.
“It’s long overdue,” Zboyovsky said. “I’m sitting in my office
freezing right now…. From the water dripping upstairs to the
rats running through the hallways, it’s needed.”
The layout of the new building also will allow for more
efficient operating costs.
As for the 50-year-old pool, it’s had its own problems.
The new pool will have better access with zero depth entry
and amenities for kids, including a big slide. There also will be
more green space.
Much of the funding for the projects
came from a $7 million bond
the borough took out this year,
Zboyovsky said. Brentwood also
received nearly $1 million in grants
for the pool project.
The pool will be closed in 2019 to allow for construction.
However, Brentwood residents will have the option to use the
Baldwin Borough pool at a resident rate, Zboyovsky said.
Plans are to go out to bid for both projects in the first two
months of the new year and break ground as soon as the
warm weather hits.
The pool is scheduled to open on Memorial Day 2020. The
new municipal building opening will follow in July 2020.
“If all goes well, we’ll be having two ribbon-cuttings in 2020,”
Zboyovsky said.
The borough’s 2019 budget also includes the addition
of two full-time police officers, bringing the 12-member
department back up to 14, Zboyovsky said. The borough’s
ongoing street rehabilitation program and sidewalk repair
program also will continue.
The budget also includes $170,000 for stormwater work.
Hacke, Stephanie “Brentwood keeps tax rate despite looming big-
ticket projects” The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review December 13, 2018
Stephanie Hacke is a Tribune-Review contributing writer.
BRENTWOOD-BALDWIN-WHITEHALL
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SPRING 2019
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