White Oak Council adopts 2025 budget after brief exchange over adding 14th officer

White Oak Borough Council voted to adopt the borough's fiscal 2025 budget, approving Resolution 2024-33 by a 5-2 roll-call vote on Dec. 30. Council members recorded their votes as Kambakis (Nay), Hoffman (Yes), President Davis (Yes), Vice President Harvard (Yes), Russell (Yes), Scharader (Yes) and DePaulis (No).

Council member Jason Russell, speaking for the budget committee, outlined that the 2025 plan covers the general fund, solid waste, liquid fuels and pension/post-retirement items and emphasized there would be no tax increase under the proposal.

During questions on the motion, a participant identified in the record as George said White Oak historically had 12 to 13 police officers (including the chief), noted a population decline of about 2,000 residents over the past 20 years and argued "I feel that the money for that 14th officer could be better spent in other areas of our budget such as the zoning and planning, which there's nothing in there to hire any help for our code enforcement officers." President Davis responded, "We have an aging police department. We have a quite a few guys that are, close to retiring and, I wanna keep the police department strong."

The council proceeded to a roll-call vote and adopted the resolution. The meeting record shows the motion was moved and seconded but does not record the mover's or seconder's names in the transcript.

The adoption of the budget and related appropriations allows borough staff to implement the spending plan for 2025; council also moved on to consider separate resolutions covering appropriations/tax rate and refuse collection fees later in the meeting.

The council announced workshop meetings for Jan. 13 and Jan. 20, 2025, and scheduled an executive-session discussion on pending litigation and personnel matters following the public session.