Published October 24. 2014 04:01PM
Stable, sound, and steady as can be, Palmerton finds itself in a position to once again hold the line on taxes next year.
On a 4-0 vote on Thursday, borough council agreed to grant tentative adoption to the 2015 budget with no tax increase.Councilmen Kris Hoffner and Richard Nothstein, along with Councilwoman Holly Sell, were absent.Borough Manager Rodger Danielson told council next year's spending plan does not require any increases."I can tell you right now, it does not call for any increase in taxes or user fees," Danielson said.If council adopts next year's budget with no tax increase, it would leave the millage rate unchanged at 8.27 mills.For the owner of a home with a market value of $100,000, which would be assessed at $50,000, they would again pay $413.50 to the borough next year.Last year, council adopted this year's $5,359,227 spending plan, which marked the fifth consecutive year without a tax increase.The last time council raised taxes was in 2009, when it approved a 1.5-mill, or 19 percent, increase that raised the millage rate from 7.77 to 9.27 mills.Also, as part of that budget, residents saw a 10 percent increase in their water rates as well, which resulted in $1 more a month for a single person, and about $3.50 for a family of four.In 2010, residents actually saw a 1-mill reduction in their property tax rates, which lessened the millage rate from 9.27 to 8.27 mills. That meant the owner of a home with a market value of $100,000, which was assessed at $50,000, paid $413.50 in property taxes that year, down $50.50 from the $464 they paid in 2009. That budget did, however, call for a $10 increase in the monthly sewer rates.