Lansford Borough Council has proposed a 2018 budget that would raise taxes for the fourth time in the past five years.

Citing decreased tax revenue and increased health care costs and wages, council is proposing a tax increase of 1.31 mills. That’s a 3.7 percent increase over the 2017 tax rate.

Council voted 4-2 to last week to advertise the proposed budget for adoption Wednesday night. Councilmen Martin S. Ditsky and Matthew Walsh voted against, and Colin Jones did not attend the meeting.

They plan to have a vote to give final approval to the spending plan at their meeting on Dec. 13.

Borough council has raised taxes eight times, in small increments, since 2008.

The proposed tax increase is for general purposes as well as to help fund the borough’s streetlights.

The budget accounts for a drop in property tax revenue, because of a number of residents who applied to have their homes reassessed at a lower property value.

Borough officials said there has also been an increase in the cost of health care and salaries. The budget for health insurance increased 50 percent to $300,000.

The borough added two full-time police officers during 2017. In addition, two other borough employees received health benefits for the first time.

A 0.35-mill increase is proposed for the borough streetlight fund, which was over budget in 2017, according to borough secretary Jill Seigendall.

Like many other municipalities, they are still paying off a loan to purchase streetlights that was negotiated through Municipal Energy Managers, a firm whose principals later pleaded guilty to fraud.

Council also cut from its budget to save money.

“To see where we could save a little, we reduced the millage for parks and recreation by 0.02, and the fire fund by 0.02 mills,” Seigendall said.

The fire fund covers the fire company’s workers’ compensation and liability insurance, which total about $30,000 per year.

American Fire Co. also submitted a request for an additional $10,000. Councilwoman Rose Mary Cannon said it was too late to put that in the budget, but council approved giving the company $6,000 from their Local Services Tax revenue.

Residents continued to appeal their property assessments this year, continuing a trend going back to 2014 that has reduced the value of a mill for the borough.

Councilman Joseph Butrie said there were more than $200,000 in assessment reductions since June.

The assessed value should increase in 2018, with the addition of St. Luke’s Lansford Campus. That building alone is expected to be assessed at $1.2 million, and bring a boost in tax revenue for the borough and Panther Valley School District.

Council also:

• Tabled a 2018 salary schedule. Cannon said the borough secretary and assistant deserve a small raise next year.

• Approved special event permit for Lansford Alive to hold a Christmas tree lighting Nov. 25 at 5 p.m.

• Rejected two bids received for a proposed borough garage. Ditsky said the borough will attempt to rebid the project in the spring.

• Butrie said he thinks the town’s new streetlights are positioned too high for the light to reach ground level.

• Purchased new front doors for the borough building at a cost of $3,860.