Coaldale borough approves 1.5-mill tax hike for 2018

Coaldale Borough Council has passed a budget that raises taxes by 1.5 mills to help fund fire services and general expenses.

The budget allocates additional money to the police department to hire a new officer in 2018, something that officials have been looking to do for several months.

It also uses more general fund revenue to help the borough repair its streets.

Council voted 4-0 to approve the budget at a special meeting on Tuesday. Michael Doerr, Francis Hutta and Thomas Keerans were absent.

The 2018 tax rate will be 28.54 mills. The tax bill for a home valued at $100,000 and assessed at $50,000 will increase by $150.

Of that, $100 will go to general expenses and the rest will help Coaldale Vol. Fire Co. No. 1.

The tentative 2018 spending plan has expenses totaling $2,186,289.

Expenses are about $138,000 more than what was budgeted in 2017, when the tax rate was 27.04 mills.

Borough treasurer Anissa Nunemacher said council carefully weighed all expenses before approving the budget.

“I just think we have to be very cautious with everything we want to do, we have to take a look at it, we have to discuss it,” she said.

The largest changes are to help pay for repairs to the streets and sewers and a new police officer.

Council allocated $30,000 from the general fund to go toward road projects in the borough.

“You hear people say ‘the streets are terrible,’ ‘you need four wheel drive,” Nunemacher said.

They plan to repave First and Second streets between Phillips and Ridge streets, and Phillips between Sixth and Seventh streets.

Streets committee chairman Claire Remington said the borough added two mills last year for street repairs.

“The money was actually there last year, but we didn’t touch it, but this year we requested they put it in the highway fund,” she said.

The borough budgeted another $14,925 for sewer repairs that will be conducted at the same time.

The police department budget would increase by $31,000.

Borough council voted to approve a new contract with its officers last month, paving the way for them to add a third full-time police officer. The borough also received a grant from the federal government that will cover 75 percent of the cost of a new police car, but that was paid for out of the 2017 budget.