Lehighton adopts budget with no tax increase

Lehighton residents won’t have to rummage through their pocketbooks for any extra money next year.

Borough council on Monday unanimously agreed to adopt the 2018 budget with no tax increase.

Council’s decision to approve next year’s $4,543,504 spending plan will leave the millage rate in check at 7.5 mills.

That means a homeowner with a home assessed at $50,000 will again pay $375 to the borough next year in property taxes.

Earlier this month, borough Manager Nicole Beckett met with all department heads, and as a result, the borough was able to come up with $53,636 in budget cuts.

As part of that, the borough was able to trim $25,500 from the police department ($20,000 of which is to eliminate the part-time police roster); $7,500 from administration; $7,000 from recreation; $6,500 from public works; $2,500 from employee benefits; $2,000 from the borough annex; $1,636 from the fire department; and $1,000 from emergency management.

Beckett said at that time $218,450 was needed to balance next year’s budget.

On a 5-2 vote, council at a special meeting earlier this month agreed to take $178,450, or 2.17 mills, from the borough’s electric fund, to balance the budget.

Also at that meeting, council decided against additional millage for the fire department.

That decision came after fire Chief Patrick Mriss at a special meeting last month said the department needed apparatus replacement.

The four pieces of equipment discussed at that meeting were Engines 512 and 514, Ladder 523 and Rescue 551.

It was noted that in 2001, council increased real estate taxes by a half-mill of real estate to fund future fire equipment purchases. However, equipment prices have significantly increased since then.

Last year, council adopted this year’s budget with no millage increase.

The last time residents saw their municipal tax rate raised was in 2014, when council approved a 1-mill increase.