Although Bellevue's 2011 budget remains intact, Mayor George Doscher has vetoed three supporting ordinances that have a tremendous impact on the coming year's spending plan.

Doscher notified Bellevue Council on Dec. 30 that he was vetoing the sewer surcharge ordinance, as well as the salary ordinance and the ordinance amending the borough's personnel code to add several new positions.

At a meeting on Dec. 28, council adopted, with little discussion, the general fund, library and sewer fund budgets for 2011. Council member Jane Braunlich again protested transferring $150,000 from the sewer fund to the general fund. and also cited the borough’s failure to pay $250,000 in 2009 sewer charges to ALCOSAN. As this had not been accounted for in the 2011 budget, Braunlich said, the budget was not balanced as required by the home rule charter.

The ordinance was approved, however, with Braunlich and Linda Woshner casting the dissenting votes. Council member Susan Viscusi was absent from the meeting.

Council also adopted, again with dissenting votes by Braunlich and Woshner, a new sewer user fee ordinance. The prior flat fee of $19 will be replaced by a fee of $3 for every 1,000 gallons of water used by a household.

Doscher wanted the ordinance to contain a provision that the fee would be phased in over a two-year period.

He also asked that council include a "sunset" clause in the ordinance, which would automatically repeal the fee at some specific date in the future unless the ordinance is re-adopted by council. Woshner agreed.

Director of Administrative Services Doug Sample said that council should look at the fee every year, especially when the borough does not know whether the higher fee will cover sewer-related costs. Sample opposed any automatic expiration of the fee, stating that the sewer expenses will not be going away. Sample made the comment that sewage bills in the future are going to be a household's primary utility bill, surpassing even gas and electric.

Council voted 5-3 to adopt a 2011 salary ordinance that provided a salary increase for public works supervisor Tony Barbarino. The mayor’s veto of the ordinance was based on the fact that other non-contract employees were not receiving a raise in the coming year. He argued that the financial impact of the raise would be minimal, especially because employees are going to be required to contribute to the cost of their health insurance this year. Jim Viscusi joined Braunlich and Woshner in opposing the adoption of the salary ordionance, with Woshner stating that it was not fair to increase the salary of only one employee.

Finally, Doscher's veto of the new personnel code provisions focused on two positions: the part-time meter attendant/police department assistant manager, and that of the assistant director of administrative services.

Council previously had rejected the mayor's request that the meter position be written as either a part-time or full-time job, maintaining that the elimination of one full-time police clerk position would leave the department shorthanded.

He also questioned the need for another management level position in the administrative office.

Bellevue Council will need to produce a two-thirds vote to override any of the individual vetoes.