Sharpsburg property owners will not have to pay more in real estate taxes or borough sewage fees as part of next year’s budget.
Council approved its 2025 spending plan Nov. 21.
It maintains the millage and sewage rates at current levels.
A draft of the budget was made available at the borough office and posted in the finance section of Sharpsburg’s official website earlier this month.
Borough Manager Christine DeRunk said financial figures did not change from the proposed budget to its final form.
Projected revenues and expenditures were listed at $4,653,679.
Income includes about $1.4 million in intergovernmental revenues, $1.3 million in real estate taxes, $857,000 in Act 511 taxes such as earned income and business privilege taxes, $572,000 in solid waste collection, $90,000 in licenses and permits, $85,500 in charges for services and $13,000 in fines and forfeitures.
Spending includes about $1.1 million for police services, $556,300 for waste collection, $184,800 for code enforcement, $146,000 for fire protection, $132,000 for the borough manager including insurances and salary, $56,500 for accounting including auditing services and payroll processing, $53,000 for mayor and council including insurances and salaries, $50,000 for legal services, $42,000 for tax collection, $39,400 for engineering services and $10,000 for EMS.
The borough also allocated $150,000 for paving. It is unclear how many streets will be repaired next year.
Projects planned for next year include a new basketball court at Kennedy Park, new ADA ramps and new catch basins at various locations throughout the borough.
Municipalities must pass a balanced budget by the Dec. 31.
DeRunk said having the spending plan reviewed and adopted a month early is a result of hard work, careful deliberation and a desire to relax before the new year starts.
“I’m thrilled to get it done in November,” the manager said. “We have until the end of the year, but it’s nice to have it passed before the holidays.”
Sarah Ishman, councilwoman and finance committee chair, said she is thankful for the upcoming capital projects and grants being sought to improve the borough.
“I’m most excited about the infrastructure projects that Christine has lined up,” Ishman said. “We will be well on our way to overhauling our aging sewer system, and we continue to execute on other multimillion-dollar grants. I cannot commend our borough manager enough for facilitating all of these projects that council chose to pursue. Another especially exciting project is fixing the basketball courts at Kennedy Park. It is a very popular spot for our community, and I’m excited we will have the courts back up to playing standard.”
Hall of Fame announcement
The next regular council meeting is set for 6:30 p.m. Dec. 19 at the borough building.
One of the major actions scheduled for that evening will be the induction of the newest members of the Sharpsburg Historical Commission’s Sports Hall of Fame.
Inductees include Guyasuta Football and Cheer, Mike Gallo and Dean Lavia.
District Judge Matthew Rudzki, one of the Hall of Fame committee members, said the inductees were selected out of 15 nominations.
Gallo is a 2001 Fox Chapel Area High School graduate and a three-year starter and football letterman playing on the offensive and defensive lines.
His senior year, he was elected captain and was a WPIAL Quad-A honorable mention and played in the NAFCA All-Star game.
Gallo also excelled in baseball as a two-year starter and letterman, playing at first and third base and as a designated hitter. He was a WPIAL Class AAA All-Section 4-Team infielder, Valley News Dispatch All-Star First-Team Utility and was considered one of the area’s top power hitters.
He went on to play football at Duquesne University, where he became a three-year letterman as an offensive lineman and earned a bachelor’s degree in business and a master’s in elementary education.
He capped off his Duquesne career as a starter when the Dukes won the 1-AA Mid-Major National Championship.
Since 2008, he coached football at Calvert High School and Chopticon High School and recently was awarded the SHAPE Maryland Outstanding Health and Physical Education Teacher Award.
Lavia was born and raised in Sharpsburg and graduated from Sharpsburg High School in 1968.
The Sharpsburg School District merged with Fox Chapel Area in 1970.
Lavia was a three-year letterman in football and basketball for the Wolverines. He was named Football Player of the Week in 1967 and made the All-WPIAL Section 16-B team in basketball in 1968.
Lavia was co-captain of the football and basketball teams his senior year. He threw 14 touchdowns and ran for 11 touchdowns that season and helped lead the 1967 team to the final winning season in SHS history and to the first win in a decade against the neighboring team and rival, the Etna Rams.
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Lavia graduated from Bethel University Tennessee with a bachelor’s of science degree and has been involved in coaching football for the past 38 years.
Most recently, he served as head coach for the Tennessee Knights. He was the offensive coordinator for the Haywood Crusaders and the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the West Tennessee War Eagles prior to that.
Lavia also served as the head coach and offensive coordinator for the Southside Sooners, the Carnegie Bulldogs and the Carnegie Comets. He currently lives in Tennessee with his family.
Guyasuta Football and Cheer is a nonprofit organization that has served Sharpsburg youths since 1983.
Its mission is to promote and teach the fundamentals of football and cheerleading while also celebrating sportsmanship, teamwork, relationship building and community pride.
Originally sporting blue and white uniforms, their games were played at Blawnox Community Park. Uniforms later were switched to red, white and black to align with Fox Chapel Area School District colors.
The organization has won multiple championships over the years and developed countless young men and women.
The program also is a member of the Allegheny Youth Football League.
The Hall of Fame committee usually selects a Sharpsburg High School grad, a Fox Chapel Area grad and a team for its round of inductees.
The inaugural Sports Hall of Fame class was inducted in October 2023 at the Linden Gym.
The inductees were Ronald “Bumpy” Powell, Jack “Mr. Versatile” Praski, Christa Salerno, Donald C. Schubert Jr. and the 1941 Sharpsburg Wolverines WPIAL champion basketball team.