The Dec. 5 Catasauqua Borough Council budget workshop meeting started out straightforward and businesslike but devolved into a shouting match as tensions ran high.

There was a good deal of blame being placed on former councils for the current financial difficulties in which the borough is finding itself. There was a fairly significant difference between expenses and revenue.

After a few hours of going through the preliminary general fund budget line by line, discussions started to revolve around whether to keep looking for cuts or just go for a tax increase for residents.

Following a few cuts to some of the larger expenditures, borough Manager Glenn Eckhart commented there are not enough departments and line items to cut from to make up the difference needed to avoid a tax increase. Eckhart shared how challenging the experience has been for himself and the new borough treasurer, Catherine VanDyne, to work with the situation at hand and find the best route forward for the borough.

Council members continued to go back and forth between the potential tax increase and still wanting to cut, resulting in frustrations around the table. Focus once again shifted to previous councils, and Councilman Paul Cmil made an accusatory comment toward Councilman Gene Schlegel, prompting Schlegel to raise his voice.

This resulted in a brief shouting match between the two men, ending with Cmil calling Schlegel a “loser,” punctuated by a fist pounding on the table. This name-calling behavior was met with a call to remove Cmil from the chamber by Mayor Barbara Schlegel.

After a few more seconds of shouting, other members of council spoke up, urging their colleagues to calm down and focus on the business at hand. A compromise was suggested since they could not come to an agreement at this meeting.

They agreed to approve the preliminary budget in its current state and allow for council members to continue looking at cuts or other solutions until the meeting Dec. 19 when the final vote is needed.

After the meeting, Gene Schlegel apologized to the room for losing his temper.

Council next meets 7 p.m. Dec. 19 at the municipal complex, 90 Bridge St.