Verona achieved the fiscal feat of going from a balance-sheet deficit at the end of 2021 to a substantial surplus one year later.
The borough’s 2022 municipal annual audit and financial report shows retained earnings of $457,811 as of Dec. 31 in Verona’s general fund, as compiled by certified public accounting firm Hosack, Specht, Muetzel & Wood LLP.
“Your prior-year fund balance was negative $6,220,” firm partner Peter Vancheri told borough council members at their June voting meeting, during which they approved the report. The 18-page document can be viewed here .
Vancheri cited a 1.9-mill real estate increase for 2022 as bringing in an extra $168,000, and earned income tax collections rose by about $45,000. In total, Verona’s general fund revenues exceeded expenditures by $464,031 for the year.
In addition to the general fund — which covers governmental operations, public safety, debt service, culture and recreation, and some public works functions — the borough allots money to other funds for specific purposes. A sewer fund, for example, serves as a repository for associated fees while paying for sewage treatment and system maintenance.
Although the audit and financial report notes a capital projects fund for Verona, with assets of $4,613, the borough usually taps the general fund for investments in large-scale, longer-term community improvements. Grant awards figure prominently in expenditures, as well.
Potential capital projects listed on Verona’s website include:
• Extending a Center Avenue storm sewer “so excess runoff and ground water can be caught and piped down the hill rather than creating an icing issue on the surface,” at a cost to the borough of about $51,000.
• Reconstructing and/or paving several deteriorated alleys, with the borough’s cost estimated at $25,000.
• Improvements to borough parks, for which Verona received grant money, but only half of what was requested. At a minimum, $13,500 of borough funds must be used to take full advantage of the $75,000 grant.
• A plan “for systematic replacement of brick streets or paving of roads” in a year-round program, rather than attempting to complete a few such projects annually. The approximate cost to the borough is $100,000.