Verona Council Notebook: June Workshop Meeting

Here’s a look at some of the items discussed at the June 28 Verona Council workshop meeting:

Tax Collector

Officials voted Tuesday night to appoint Keystone Collections Group of Irwin as the borough’s earned income tax collector.  This move was required if the borough wanted to start directly withholding wage taxes.  

The Allegheny Southeast Tax Collection Committee—which represents the district that includes Plum, Oakmont, Verona, the Plum School District and Riverview School District —chose Keystone Collections Group as the district collector.  Borough officials were required to make the move official by July 1.  

Online Ordinances

Mike Peters, a representative from General Code, was in attendance to present a proposal to council to update the current borough code books and also post it online.  

The physical code books for Verona have not been updated for eight years, and a number of ordinances have passed during that time.  However, it is quite an expense for council to update as often as they would like, officials said.  

The proposal from General Code includes updating the existing code books, providing the borough with two physical code books, and uploading and maintaining all ordinances and codes online.  The proposed cost is $7,600 up front and a yearly $995 online update and maintenance fee.  Additional fees will be added for any updates to the physical code book.  

“Having all the ordinances online is not just a big help to the borough staff, but also to the public,” Peters said.  “When there’s an update, we can just scan it in and it’s there.”  

Rochester NY based General Code has been in business for 50 years and has been doing online codification for almost eight.  They work with a number of other local municipalities putting their codes online, including Oakmont, Allegheny County, Municipality of Monroeville, Shaler Township and Cranberry Township.  The firm also works in 23 other states and Canada.

Several council members were concerned about the upfront cost of the initiative. Peters said he can work with borough officials as needed but the firm typically require 25 percent up front to get the process started.  

“Let’s do it,” said Councilman Dom Conti.  His words were echoed by most in attendance.  

Miscellaneous Items

• The "Rockin' in the Park" concert will return again this year on Sept. 17.  More information to follow on exact band line-up and schedule.  
• Letters will be going out this week organizing a residents meeting for concerning lighting at Cribbs field.  
• A resolution was passed to give part-time police officers a pay increase.  This is the first time in five years for the borough.  The increase will be 50 cents or one dollar, depending on duties and time of service.