Palmerton holds the line on taxes

Palmerton is looking at a 2020 budget that holds the line on taxes while leaving room for a number of projects within the borough.

Borough council tentatively adopted next year’s budget earlier this month. And on Thursday, it voted to keep millage at its current rate — 11.77 mills.

Sitting at 1%, council also elected to maintain the earned income tax rate heading into 2020.

But the borough has a list of tasks it hopes to complete next year, Donna McGarry, borough manager, said.

Trees in the park on Delaware Avenue need to be removed thanks to damage inflicted by ash borer beetles, McGarry pointed out. And there are some borough streets that need paving and parking lots that also require attention.

“That’s quite an expense,” McGarry said.

To fund some of those undertakings, McGarry proposed moving half a mill from the debt reduction fund to the general one, which council also approved.

There will still be enough to make the annual loan payment, McGarry said.

Boroughs in Pennsylvania have until Dec. 31 to adopt a finalized budget.