$1.6 Million Gap in Easton Budget

Easton Mayor Sal Panto will present the city's 2014 budget on the night of Oct. 1.

Sometime between now and then, he and his team will need to fill a roughly $1.6 million deficit.

"This budget is a very difficult budget," Panto said Wednesday, echoing his statements about past budgets. "The big problem is health care."

The mayor said his priority is to avoid raising property taxes, which have stayed unchanged for the past five years.

He'd also like to avoid raising other fees—such as sewage rates—something that hasn't gone unchanged.

Panto said a new garbage contract will help the city save some money, but not enough to close the budget gap.

Once the budget is introduced, city council must wait two weeks before it can begin discussions.