Nesquehoning residents will see a slight increase in borough taxes in 2016.

On Wednesday, borough council formally adopted the 2016 budget, which calls for a 0.75-mill increase, bringing the total mills to 17.25.That means that a $100,000 home assessed at $50,000 will see an increase in real estate taxes of $37.50 next year.Councilman Frank Jacobs said that the total budget comes down to $1,703,335.99 - 15.2 mills for the general fund, 1.75 for fire protection and 0.3 for recreation."As a council I think we all try to keep the tax increases as minimum as possible," said council President David Hawk. "We feel that the budget that we're proposing for 2016 is the best balance in keeping taxes low and continuing to provide the quality of service that the people of the borough expect and deserve."It's a balancing act and we feel we came up with the best compromise between those two objectives," he said.The increases are reflected in the general fund, where a half-mill will go to cover an increase in health insurance costs; and fire protection, 0.25 mills.In November, the borough decided to see if it could find lower rates for insurance coverage.Council noted that it is continuing to look at new heath care providers, but will be staying with Benecon Health Insurance Cooperative for 2016.New Columbus resident Bob Strauss, during the visitors portion of the meeting, spoke to council about the 2014 auditor's report and proposed 2016 budget.He questioned some of the tax increase, which he said was a 1-mill increase proposed in November and an additional 0.25-mill increase proposed on Dec. 1.Council said it had never proposed a 1-mill increase for 2016 and addressed some of his concerns, which conflicted in the auditor's report, such as the borough not paying on its loans, and not paying back other funds that it has previously borrowed from to cover general expenses.Council is paying on both the loans and the borrowed funds.Hawk noted that one of the reasons council proposed the 0.25-mill increase for fire protection at a special meeting, rather than at its November meeting, was that all the figures weren't in in November because the meeting had to be pushed up a week due to the Thanksgiving holiday.Fire companiesStrauss said that he thought council should do an analysis on whether three fire companies in the borough were needed."I would rather have one adequately funded fire department than three inadequately funded departments," he said.Nesquehoning Hose Company Fire Chief John McArdle said the reason for three companies is the size of the municipality, which covers 30 square miles."Having three stations where they are located allows us to get to those areas in a quick fashion," he said, noting that it takes the hose company, located on the eastern edge of the borough approximately 10-15 minutes to get to Lake Hauto on the western edge of the borough, whereas the Hauto Fire Company could respond quicker.Strauss said he appreciated McArdle's opinion but asked council to look into the matter.Councilman George Sabol echoed Strauss' thoughts regarding looking at whether three fire companies are needed, saying that maybe the borough needs to make some tough choices, citing the Diocese of Allentown's decision a several years ago to close numerous Catholic churches throughout the area."They've done it and it hurts and (angers people) but you have to do it," Sabol said. "We don't have the young population we used to have and they are hard cuts and people aren't going to like it but maybe you have to do it."In a related matter, McArdle updated council on his recent attendance at the Lake Hauto Club's meeting regarding the fire hydrants in the gated community. He said that the club, as well as Hometown Fire Company and representatives from the Lansford-Coaldale Joint Water Authority were present.At the meeting, the authority said it would have to do a flow test of the hydrants. This will probably happen in the spring because the hydrants have already been winterized."Until that time, I will not use those hydrants because I don't know what the flow is going to be," McArdle said, noting that the Hometown fire chief agreed that there is not enough water to provide an adequate flow to fight a fire.McArdle said that as of right now, fire companies may need to bring in tenders with water, which could take up to 45 minutes; or lay about 5,000 feet of hose to hook up to one of the four dry hydrants around the lake.Council asked solicitor Robert Yurchak to investigate if a borough official could be a liaison on the water authority's board because part of the borough is a customer serviced by the joint water authority.