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Harveys Lake

‘No major changes’ in budget

The borough moves to regain control over subdivisions from Luzerne County.

EILEEN GODIN Times Leader Correspondent

HARVEYS LAKE – After crunching numbers, borough officials revealed a $1 million 2010 proposed budget Tuesday night for its first reading.

Borough Secretary Susan Sutton said the proposed $1,003,650 budget contains “no major changes.”

As the proposed budget currently stands, the borough’s millage rate of .604 will remain the same as last year, along with the 1 percent per capita, real estate and income taxes, she said. A mill is $1 of tax for every $1,000 of assessed property value.

“The budget is comparable to this year,” Sutton said.

The 2010 proposed budget is available for the public review between 7 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. in the municipal building. Council is scheduled to adopt the budget during the regular monthly meeting at 7 p.m. Dec. 15 in the municipal building.

In other business, in an effort to regain control over subdivisions and land developments from the Luzerne County Planning Commission, the borough unanimously passed a Land Development Ordinance.

Jack Varaly, planning consultant to the borough, described subdivision as the division of larger lots of property for the purpose of building homes.

The ordinance gives the zoning board the power to approve applications for subdivisions or land developments. Varaly said that years ago the borough put the Luzerne County Planning Commission in charge of land development while all other zoning issues were determined by the borough’s zoning department.

“Land development was governed by the county for about five to six years,” he said. “It just made sense for the borough to control it.”

This summer, when the new zoning manual was adopted, the council decided it wanted to be in control of land development ordinances, Varaly said.