Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the City Budget topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Finance committee recommends placing 17 budget adjustments and resolutions on council agenda
Summary
The Bethlehem Finance Committee voted unanimously to recommend that 17 agenda items — mostly year-end budget reconciliations across city funds and several resolutions — be placed on tonight's City Council agenda, including adjustments to water, sewer, general, and grant funds and transfers tied to a new SEIU labor agreement.
Grace Kramsey Smith, chair of the Bethlehem Finance Committee, said the committee would review 17 agenda items and called on administration representatives to explain year-end adjustments.
"There are 17 agenda items on tonight's meeting agenda," Kramsey Smith said, opening the session.
The committee unanimously recommended placing all 17 items on the city council agenda after hearing short presentations and asking clarifying questions. The items were primarily year-end reconciliations moving cash and grant revenues to match actual spending between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31, plus two resolutions and transfers tied to a new labor agreement.
Why it matters: these adjustments move money between operating and capital accounts and activate grant and insurance proceeds so council can consider formal legislation later tonight. Several actions also authorize transfers that fund projects already under way, including water system work and affordable housing support.
Administration representatives described the largest items as routine year-end reconciliations. One administration official said the sewer fund's cash position changed by about $100,000. "The cash position reduced about a little over a hundred thousand dollars, to $6,100,000 in the bank as of January 1," Edward Boscola, director of Water and Sewer Resources, told the committee.
Committee members asked for clarifications on several projects before voting. Council members confirmed that $2 million remains earmarked for the Linden Centre Street two-way conversion and that ARPA-related lost revenue funds totaling about $1.2 million remain allocated to nonutility projects. The water fund transfer discussed moved $1.5 million from the water cash reserve into capital appropriation to support, among other things, lead service line replacement and security enhancements for the system; the administration said the city keeps a cash reserve "so we don't have to borrow money."
Other items summarized by administration and forwarded to council include:
- A $400,000 emergency solutions grant to be passed through the city to seven nonprofits for rapid rehousing, street outreach, shelter and HMIS operations in Lehigh and Northampton counties; Tiffany Wisma, business manager for CED, said the city will be reimbursed for administrative costs.
- A $323,839 year-end adjustment for LERDA affordable housing funds intended for the Gateway on Fourth project, pending tax-credit and state funding decisions.
- Reapplication of escrowed and insurance receipts for community events, police equipment and a knocked-down streetlight (insurance replacement expected to reimburse the city), and a sponsorship increase from St. Luke's Hospital for the municipal golf course.
- A carryover of overtime funding for Bethlehem Police officers assigned to a task force with the Pennsylvania attorney general's office; the administration said officers work overtime and the city invoices the attorney general for reimbursement.
- Budget transfers across multiple funds to implement a newly negotiated four-year agreement with SEIU covering nonuniformed municipal employees. The administration described the agreement as finalized after several bargaining sessions and said the budget built contingency amounts so transfers would not require drawing down unforeseen reserves. "It's a 4 year deal," an administration representative said.
Several items (agenda 6 through 13) were considered as a group at the committee's request; after administration explanations and brief questions from members, the committee voted to place each of those items, and the remaining individual items, on tonight's council agenda.
Votes at a glance: for each agenda item 1 through 17 the committee made the same recommendation: to approve the administration request and place appropriate legislation on the council agenda. The formal roll-call for each motion recorded the three committee members voting aye: Hillary Kwiatak, Rachel Leone and Chair Grace Kramsey Smith. No no votes, abstentions or recusals were recorded at the committee level.
What's next: the items will appear on the Bethlehem City Council agenda for formal consideration. Several projects described in committee remarks remain dependent on later approvals or external funding decisions, such as tax-credit awards and state grant outcomes for affordable housing.
The meeting adjourned after the 17th item was completed.
