Sussex Borough to correct audit items

SUSSEX BOROUGH — The Sussex Borough Council on Tuesday, July 15, approved 10 corrective items on the 2013 borough audit report.

Municipal Auditor Tom Ferrysaid that the audit showed Sussex Borough is within “pretty good financial condition.” On a “Richter Scale of 1 to 10, ten being the worst, Sussex is at a 2, where most of the issues can be fixed by the end of 2014.”

Ferry also explained the importance of the fund balance. He likened it to a savings account, which helps keep taxes from going up and down as unexpected expenses occur over the course of a year.

In 2013, the Sussex Borough Fund Balance was $160,000. An ideal fund balance would be 10 percent of the tax levy: including the school and town. The total tax levy for Sussex in 2013 was $3.75 million. Therefore, an ideal goal for Sussex Borough’s Fund Balance would have been $370,000.

Ferry also spoke of new checks and balances to be implemented in Sussex Borough. Because of shared services in the Treasury Department, he recommended the borough begin to use a computer system with additional security of adjustments in the water/sewer utility and tax systems.

Ferry said it would be “just a safety net for one person to not have access to too much information.”

The computer system will be implemented in December. The borough's budget was $1.443 million for 2013.