Jim Thorpe Borough Council is proposing a 2.01-mill tax increase for 2018 in large part to cover construction of a new public works garage and the relocation of its borough office and police department.

The tax increase would mean a $140.10 increase for a property owner with the median home value of $139,400.

Before council unanimously voted to advertise the spending plan, Council President Greg Strubinger outlined the projects.

“We’re planning to make some improvements that we have been talking about for several years,” he said. “We want to ensure our facilities are adequate, and right now, we have some that are not.”

Currently, the borough office and police department share a building, built in 2010, along East Tenth Street next to Memorial Park.

That building, which the borough will look to lease, will be vacated as the borough office will relocate to a portion of what is now banquet space on the top floor of the adjacent borough-owned Memorial Hall.

Meanwhile, Jim Thorpe’s police department will call the bottom floor of Memorial Hall home. The space was previously used as a roller skating rink.

The relocation was one of three options suggested by Spillman Farmer Architects following a $6,900 feasibility study.

Borough officials cited the need for more space as the main reason for the move.

“We talked with the department heads and got a feel for what they needed and then looked at the space available,” said Sal Verrastro, of Spillman Farmer. “Memorial Hall really has good bones and can be renovated to meet the needs of the borough.”

The seating for events in Memorial Hall would go from around 600 to between 200 and 250 after the borough staff makes the transition.

Resident and councilwoman-elect Edith Lukasevich said she’d have a hard time accepting the loss of event space in Memorial Hall.

“I’m concerned if we’ll still be able to have nice weddings here,” Lukasevich said. “It was doing better when the McHughs were running the hall. This was built for the entertainment of the people.”

Jim McHugh and his wife, Sherry, had been running events at the hall for three years before a month-to-month lease with the borough ended in January.

Sherry on Thursday said council neglected the building.

“For years, the hall needed work and not a penny was put into it for the community,” she said. “Council created the debt. It’s not going away. You can hide, but it’s not going anywhere. The land here was given to the borough for purposes of a park and for athletic games. How much more are you going to take from our community?”

Council members said the venue needed to book 35 events a year to break even.

“Jim did a great job running it, but with all the competition out there in this day and age from other venues, that’s a number we just couldn’t meet,” Councilman John McGuire said.

Strubinger said the borough subsidized the hall’s operations over $320,000 from 2013-17.

The borough is also looking to demolish its current public works garage, also located at Memorial Park, and build a new one on property the borough owns across from the water department on West Broadway.

Cost estimates provided by Spillman Farmer include $1.5 million for the new public works garage, $650,000 to relocate the borough office to Memorial Hall, $1.5 million to relocate the police department to Memorial Hall, $75,000 to renovate Memorial Hall, $250,000 for site improvements and $50,000 to demolish the old public works garage.

A small part of the tax increase will also go toward funding the stabilization of a 200-foot portion of the High Street wall.

Council will take a final vote on the budget at its Dec. 14 meeting.