HARMONY — Borough leaders passed a 2023 projected budget Tuesday, Dec. 6, night that exceeds $812,553 in expenses with $812,910 in revenue — leaving a small surplus of $357.

This overall balanced budget features two transactions linked to wages for water operations that countered $300,000 in revenue with $300,000 in expenses. These transactions, which involve Western Butler County Authority, make up the largest line items throughout the budget.

Other larger expenses include pension costs for some borough employees at $62,213 and wages for street maintenance at $62,000. Top revenue sources include real estate taxes, projected to total $102,000 in the coming year, and earned income tax, which is projected to bring in $150,000 in revenue.

Councilman Dave Szakelyhidi said the borough has more limited income to work with than other communities whose development outstrips Harmony’s. Often, he said, he and other council members compare notes with other communities while working on the Lower Connoquenessing Watershed Group.

“In the growing municipalities, they got it easy, because the developers are piling money into the boroughs, and as long as they’re growing, they’re OK,” he said. “But the ones that aren’t growing, they have to try to absorb that or pass it along, and we haven’t passed it on.”

The Lower Connoquenessing Watershed Group, which works to reduce impact from stormwater flooding, includes leaders from 10 other communities, including Cranberry Township, Forward Township and Seven Fields borough.

Szakelyhidi said the borough managed to offset growing expenses from inflation by swapping incandescent street lights for LED streetlights. These, he said, have grown more common in recent years.

“We’re getting better prices on the streetlights ... because it uses less power, and there’s less maintenance to relamp them,” he said.