Committee notes $500,000 transfer to capital reserve and plans to recoup $69,000 liquid-fuels adjustment

The Narberth Borough Finance & Administration Committee heard a treasurer's report outlining two near-term financial moves: a board-approved, budgeted transfer of $500,000 from the general fund into the capital fund reserve, and a one-time $69,000 reclassification tied to a liquid-fuels audit.

"I would like to request of the committee authorization to go ahead and make the transfer of the $500,000 that we had budgeted from the general fund to go into our capital fund," the borough manager told the committee, noting the capital reserve yields a higher interest rate and that the transfer was already included in the adopted budget.

Staff also explained that a 2022-23 liquid-fuels audit found the borough lacked supporting documentation for certain eligible expenditures (related to LED street-light upgrades). The state required a $69,000 transfer to the highway aid fund to reconcile those items and to allow the borough's 2026 liquid-fuels allocation to be released for the road program. "We are going to be documenting those eligible expenses and classifying them in our liquid fuels fund to offset essentially that transfer," the manager said.

Council members asked whether the administrative time to document liquid-fuels eligibility justified the recovery effort or whether the borough should instead treat those expenditures from capital funds. Staff said the $69,000 is small relative to the annual road program and that documenting eligible expenses this year will let the borough recover the amount while the longer-term budgeting approach for liquid fuels will be reviewed.

The committee did not require an additional authorization because the $500,000 move was already included in the budget and previously discussed in public meetings; staff said they would proceed and that the transfer will show up in next month's budget numbers.