Columbia Spy

By Columbia Spy- October 22, 2026

John Weidman of Browns Plus presented the draft budget at Wednesdays workshop.

JOE LINTNER | COLUMBIA SPY 
Columbia Borough Council on Wednesday got a first look at a 2027 general fund budget that projects spending about $474,000 more than the borough takes in.

Budget: deficit, covered by cash on hand
John Weidman, of the accounting firm Browns Plus, has been helping the borough with finance one day a week while it lacks a finance manager. Weidman presented the draft budget in which revenue is projected at $8.255 million against expenditures of $8.729 million.

“The budget is in a deficit position, but luckily those reserves are on hand,” he said. The general fund is expected to end 2026 with a little over $2 million in cash.

Weidman cautioned that the projected 2027 year-end balance depends partly on a roughly $1.3 million grant the borough has pursued for a year or more. If the grant doesn’t arrive, he said, the balance would be about $1.476 million. “I don’t want people to get excited that we’re going to have this reserve at the end of the year,” he said.

Councilman Eric Kaufman noted the leftover money is not a true surplus. “Whatever’s left over at the end of the year has to carry us into April,” he said. Weidman agreed, saying the first three months of the year are “generally pretty tight” because real estate tax payments don’t start arriving until April and May.

Reassessment cuts millage, raises revenue
The borough’s assessed value rose from about $438 million to $937 million in a reassessment year. The borough’s rate will fall from 10 mills to a little over five mills, but the budget still assumes a 10 percent increase in the borough’s share of real estate tax revenue.

The borough’s portion makes up about 15.3 percent of a total real estate bill. The county accounts for 9.53 percent, and the school district for roughly 75 percent. On $100,000 of assessed value, the school district collects about $2,500, the borough about $500 and the county about $320, for a bill of roughly $3,300.
The budget counts on about $4.15 million in real estate tax collections, though the line is listed at about $4.8 million to $4.9 million. This year the borough expects to collect about $4.1 million.

Other revenue: conservative estimates
Weidman said revenue estimates were deliberately cautious. Total tax revenue is budgeted at about $5.2 million. Other figures included:

• Earned income tax: $1.363 million, based on 2025 collections. The borough rate is 1 percent, and 2026 is expected to come in higher.
• Deed transfer tax: $265,000, though 2026 may bring in a little over $300,000.
• Local services tax: $125,000, based on a four-year average. Workers in the borough pay $52 a year, usually through payroll withholding.
• Comcast franchise fees: $133,000. The borough received $152,000 in 2026 plus an unexpected second check of $48,000 last month. 

“Obviously the borough is not going to turn it down,” he said of the Comcast fees, but he noted that more customers are leaving cable for streaming. The fee is a flat 5 percent of basic service bills.

Looking back at 2026
Weidman said the 2026 budget benefited from a $1.8 million transfer from the capital fund, largely tied to the McGinness project, whose grant payments had been delayed. He credited Ron Youtz and Jack Brommer with helping ensure the money came in.

Budget discussions will continue at a November workshop.

By Columbia Spy- October 22, 2026

Ron Youtz [File photo]

JOE LINTNER | COLUMBIA SPY

Veteran administrator to serve through end of year at $50 an hour

Columbia Borough Council voted 7-0 to appoint Ron Youtz as acting borough manager, effective October 30, 2026, during Wednesday’s budget workshop. Youtz was not present at the meeting. 

Youtz will serve through the end of the year at a rate of $50 an hour.

A former West Hempfield Township manager, Youtz previously worked in Columbia Borough’s public works department. He returned to the borough last fall under a six-month term as assistant borough manager, a role created to mentor Borough Manager Jack Brommer as he transitioned from police chief to the manager’s post.

Brommer, who is leaving the position November 13, was absent from the workshop. It was the third consecutive meeting he has missed. Lutz was also absent.

By Columbia Spy- October 21, 2026

The meeting packet is HERE.

By Columbia Spy- October 20, 2026

When Drum Majorettes of America held its Nationals competition in Aiken, S.C., this summer, two Columbia girls took top honors for the second year in a row. Myrah Baker won Little Majorette Princess of America, and Gracelynn “Gracie” O’Dell won Wee Majorette Princess of America.

Both girls are students at Paula’s School of Baton in Mount Joy, and both have been twirling batons almost since they could walk. Now 9 years old and a fourth-grader at Our Lady of the Angels School, Myrah began twirling at age 2. That’s the same age Gracie, now 8 years old and a second-grader at Park Elementary School, also took up the baton.

https://townlively.com/twirling-toward-another-national-win/

By Columbia Spy- October 20, 2026

The Columbia Economic Development Corporation recently awarded two Small Business Grants to local businesses. Each grant was for $1,000, and the recipients were Angry, Young, and Poor and Shupp’s Barber Shop.

MORE:

Businesses Receive Grants

By Columbia Spy- October 20, 2026

Halloween Happenings will take place on Sunday, October 25, in and around the Columbia Market House, 15 S. Third St., from 3 to 8 p.m.

Coordinated by Create Columbia, a nonprofit that promotes Columbia as a creative and vital community, the festivities will provide an opportunity for spooky fun for people of all ages.

MORE:

A Spooky Day in Columbia

By Columbia Spy- October 20, 2026

Stu Huggens 

[Columbia Spy photo]

Huggens will be the speaker at the 11-11-11 Club’s annual luncheon. The event will be held on Wednesday, Nov. 11, beginning at 11 a.m. at the Red Rose Memorial VFW Post 2435, Fourth and Manor streets, Columbia.

The 11-11-11 Club event is open to all veterans and the general public, and it will begin with the tolling of a bell 11 times to mark the signing of the armistice agreement that ended World War I. That agreement was signed at 11 a.m. on the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918.

MORE:

11-11-11 Club Will Honor Veterans

By Columbia Spy- October 19, 2026

The Columbia Borough School Board approved the resignation of member Thomas Ziegler at its October 15, 2026, meeting. The resignation took effect October 9, according to LNP | LancasterOnline.

Ziegler was appointed to the board in December 2025, according to the district’s website. His brief letter to the board did not give a reason for stepping down.

“We do thank Mr. Ziegler for the time and the energy and the passion that he put into his time on the board,” said Finance Chair Kathleen Hohenadel.

Under Pennsylvania law, the board must try to fill the vacancy within 30 days, according to the board’s website. Members said they hope to interview candidates and vote to fill the seat at their November 5 meeting. The new member’s term would expire in December 2029.

To serve on the board, a person must be at least 18 years old and have lived in the district for a year before being elected, the board’s website states. Eligible Columbia residents must submit a letter of interest by 3 p.m. on October 29 to be considered.

Letters can be mailed, hand-delivered or emailed to Superintendent Dr. Ashley Rizzo, Secretary Lindsey Blake or board President Charles Leader.

This article is based on reporting by LNP | LancasterOnline.

By Columbia Spy- October 17, 2026

Lutz: “You need a plan… Then you need to find the finances for it. You need to implement the plan.”

JOE LINTNER | COLUMBIA SPY 

Plan would prioritize school routes; PennDOT engineers to visit trouble spots next week

Mayor Lutz told council on Tuesday that borough officials are assembling a street-safety plan, and he urged council to pursue grants and set aside matching funds to pay for it.

Lutz said borough administrators, police, and members of the borough’s safety committee have been meeting on ways to make streets safer “in the near future.” He said he has briefed the school superintendent, who will be brought into the process, and that public meetings will be held as the plan takes shape.

“Several things have to happen as you put a plan together,” he said. “You need a plan… Then you need to find the finances for it. You need to implement the plan.”

Next week, borough staff and police will meet with engineers whom PennDOT contracts with to review problem locations, Lutz said. Among them is 11th and Spruce streets, where children cross Ironville Pike. “That’s a problem area,” he said. The other is 9th Street and Route 462, a crossing used by children in the east end.

Lutz said he also met last week with the Lancaster County Planning Commission about the Route 462 corridor, raising concerns about the 90-degree curve at 5th and Chestnut streets and the intersections of Lancaster Avenue with 6th, 8th and 9th streets. 

County planners advised that improvements are easier to win if they are planned before the road is repaved, which Lutz said is expected in 2028. County planning documents rank Columbia’s Route 462 stretch, from Chestnut Street to South 13th Street, first among 18 municipalities in a 2025 effort to prioritize Complete Streets improvements alongside PennDOT repaving schedules.  

Much of the presentation drew on a plan from Lancaster City, whose public works staff shared their slides with Columbia.

Much of the presentation drew on a plan from Lancaster City, whose public works staff shared their slides with Columbia. “I’m a firm believer… if we can work together as municipalities with some of our ideas and everything, we can obviously save some money,” Lutz said.

Lancaster maps all crashes, including those involving bicycles and pedestrians, into a “high injury network” layer. Lutz said the data could also support the traffic studies PennDOT requires before changes such as new stop signs, potentially saving money. 

Other measures discussed included:

• Signals: Borough staff are working with a contractor on a signal plan for PennDOT approval. It would include a brief four-way stop, followed by a pedestrian crossing phase with a countdown timer.
• Crosswalks: Pre-cut “piano key” markings that are heated into the pavement, which Lutz said would be cheaper than painting them in-house.
• Bump-outs: Lancaster’s quick-build curb extensions made with PVC posts. A concrete version was priced at $729,000, against about $6,000 for the quick-build version. The posts can be removed for snowplowing. “How do you put a cost on a life versus a parking space?” Lutz said.
• Raised crossings: Lutz suggested picturing a raised intersection at 9th Street and Ironville Pike and at 6th and Locust, to stop children cutting across diagonally.

The discussion also touched on no-turn-on-red restrictions, which is credited with a 13 percent reduction in crashes, and speed cushions. Red-light cameras came up, but a speaker expressed doubt that a borough could adopt them.

Money and priorities

Lutz said the work would likely be phased, with children’s routes to school first. He recommended council pursue grants, including a recently identified ARLE grant, and budget matching funds in the highway budget. “There’s some things we can do without PennDOT approval and they’re relatively cheap,” he said. He did not request a vote. “The decision is yours,” he told council.

 Thompson: “We don’t need more presentations. We need action.”

The presentation came after resident Robert Thompson told council that safer streets require consistent enforcement of speeding, stop-sign and pedestrian-right-of-way laws. “We don’t need more presentations. We need action,” he said.

Thompson also referred to the deaths of Eric and Donna Lutz, who were struck by a pickup truck at North 3rd and Chestnut streets in Columbia, along with a girl who was taken to a hospital. 

By Columbia Spy- October 16, 2026

JOE LINTNER | COLUMBIA SPY

Borough Council on Monday ratified Mayor Lutz’s emergency declaration making the 100 and 200 blocks of Walnut Street one-way, and took the first step toward making the change permanent.

The mayor told council at its October 13 meeting that the street, which is part of a recent streetscape project, would reopen in the near future. He said the borough’s street ordinance needed to change “in order to ensure safe travel for motorists, safe travel for bicyclists and pedestrians.”

In the meantime, he said, he issued an emergency declaration designating the two blocks as one-way.

Council also voted to authorize advertisement of Ordinance 2026-968, which would formally designate the 100 and 200 blocks of Walnut Street as one-way.  

Before the vote, Evan Gabel, borough solicitor,  noted that the draft’s direction of travel had been switched from an earlier version. Gabel suggested the ordinance describe travel as running from Third Street to Front Street. “It gives you the impression it’s going up,” councilor Jeanne Cooper said, when the traffic would actually be going down. Council amended its motion to reflect that change and voted to approve. 

Because the ordinance cannot take effect until it has been advertised and given final approval, council also voted to ratify the mayor’s emergency declaration to keep the one-way designation in place in the meantime.