North Catasauqua Borough Council members will review a draft of the proposed 2017 borough budget at their next meeting.

Key council and administration personnel met Nov. 1 to work on a draft. Finance committee members Cherie Gebhardt, Joe Keglovits and council President Peter Paone met with borough Treasurer Annette Englert. The purpose of the meeting was to see if any cuts could be made to the initial budget draft.

Council President Peter Paone commented on rising costs the borough will have to face next year during the Oct. 25 council meeting.

“Annette and I met to start looking at the budget details from the various departments and insurance costs,” he said. “Needless to say, it’s looking rather sparse for next year. The initial budget was showing a pretty hefty tax increase. We’re going to pare that down as much as possible.”

Paone pointed to rising insurance costs as being a key concern.

“I don’t see how we’re going to get a budget through without some kind of increase in taxes,” he said. “There are expenses that are outside our control.”

The result of the committee’s review will be a draft to be reviewed by the council at the Nov. 15 council meeting.

Following that, at the Nov. 29 meeting, the council will vote on a preliminary version of the budget, which must then be posted in the municipal office and advertised in the news media for public review before a final vote, expected to take place Dec. 13.

Also at the Oct. 25 meeting, Englert announced she had transferred $50,000 from the special projects fund into the general account to cover end-of-year expenses.

A deficit existed in the general fund because the borough had not yet received $27,500 in grant money for work done on the D&L Trail, $9,000 from Federal Emergency Management Agency for reimbursement of snowstorm cleanup costs and a $33,000 insurance check for hailstorm damage to the municipal building roof.

Once those funds are received, the $50,000 will be returned to the special projects fund, she said.