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Politics & Government

Whitehall Council Increases One Tax, Holds Line on Another in Budget Proposal

Whitehall officials approved a $52 local services tax on Wednesday after presenting a budget proposal that doesn't increase property taxes.

At its regular meeting on Wednesday evening, the Whitehall Borough Council held a public hearing on its proposed 2012 budget and unanimously approved a tax increase for people working in Whitehall.

If the borough's $8.9-million budget is approved, residents would see their eighth consecutive year without a property tax increase. The balancing act was helped in part by a , which will pull $52 from people working in the borough and is expected to generate an additional $74,000 in revenue.

Workers earning less than $12,000 yearly are exempt from the tax, which will be collected throughout the year rather than in a lump sum. Previously, the tax was $15 per year.

Councilman Robert McKown, who presented the proposed budget at the meeting, said that he hasn't heard complaints about the increase.

“We got complaints in the past because we didn't raise it to $52,” McKown said.

While residents filled the council chambers on Wednesday evening—”I think we're in trouble; we're outnumbered tonight,” Councilman Harold Berkoben joked before the meeting began—no one stood to speak when the council asked for public input.

The budget will come to a vote at the council's meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 21. Before then, anyone wishing to review line items can do so at the borough municipal complex on Borough Park Drive.

The council allocated $805,000 in the budget for street resurfacing, along with $50,000 for new carpeting in the . Aside from those expenditures, McKown said, the council has not planned for new, significant capital projects.

“The concern was essentially to keep the cost in line with what our revenue was,” McKown said, adding that while the council faced nothing particularly challenging this time around, balancing a budget is never a light chore.

Spending on the —which has a total cost of $2.6 million, half of which has already been paid—will continue through its expected completion in the spring.

Even though there was no property tax increase, McKown advised residents that county-wide property assessments may result in higher taxes for some residents. McKown said that certified assessments may come a little later than usual but are expected by April.

Check back with the Baldwin-Whitehall Patch later on Thursday for more odds and ends from Wednesday night's council meeting.

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