Minersville’s Borough Council President says the 2026 budget deficit is the biggest he’s ever seen.
That means cuts will have to be made from department head requests before a balanced budget is passed before the end of this year.
Last week, the Borough announced that its draft budget for 2026 expects $2,953,725 in revenue but has $3,215,001 in expenses. That’s a deficit of $261,276.
Council President Jamie Kuehn said in his 20 years on council, it’s the largest deficit at this point in the budget negotiations process.
That expenses number comes from a cumulation of department heads’ so-called wish lists for the coming year. With such a large deficit, some of those wishes are likely to be dashed.
Before a final budget is passed at next month’s board meeting, cuts will likely have to be made.
Making matters more difficult for council members in Minersville – and other municipalities facing a similar circumstance – is a restriction on relying on a tax increase to make up any differences.
Due to the countywide property tax reassessment, municipalities like Minersville must pass a revenue-neutral budget to adjust the millage rate. They are then capped at raising property taxes up to 10% in 2026.
“We will work on the budget from now until the December meeting,” Kuehn said.
Councilman Jeff Enders expressed some concern with only getting the draft budget just prior to last week’s board meeting. He requested a chance to sit in on the next Finance Committee meeting.
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Sir John
November 19, 2025 at 10:20 am
It all comes down to mismanagement of money. Maybe an outside forensics audit should be done to find out EXACTLY where money is being wasted. A lot of dead weight in the Borough and too much “inside” deals being done.