Crafton Borough Manager Mike Pless told council the borough will begin budget workshops next week to review department requests and account balances as the borough prepares for the 2026 budget cycle.

Pless said the first workshop will be informational — “no decisions will need to be made” — and that staff will present recommended reserve amounts, bond‑fund reconciliations and macroeconomic trend analysis. He told council that because the borough is five years into spending a bond fund, staff must report how much has been spent and whether higher interest rates mean the borough needs to return interest proceeds. “What will matter is whether we actually have to pay some interest back because the interest rates went up so much after we took out the money,” Pless said.

Pless outlined the approach to workshops: staff will present account balances and department proposals, then council will decide if items should be added or modified. He said staff will also review trends in property taxes, real‑estate income and other revenues to assess structural impacts on future budgets.

Finance Committee chair (reporting) said current year-to-date figures through July 31 show the general fund income at about $4.6 million and general fund expenses at about $3.6 million; sewer and road funds were reported separately. The committee said the 2026 budget process will use updated account-level detail developed over the last year to shorten later workshops.

Pless and council members noted that some capital projects were pushed into future years and that the capital/bond fund is being treated separately from annual operating budgets. “We flag money for this year that we had it, and then now it's just gonna be flagging it in the same fund for next year,” Pless said, describing how capital draws move across fiscal years.

Next steps: several budget workshops are scheduled and staff said they expect to have a near-final summary that will inform subsequent decision meetings and any reserve or interest adjustments required by bond‑fund reconciliation.