No tax increase for Mahanoy City in adopted 2023 budget
Dec. 20—MAHANOY CITY — Residents will not see a tax increase next year under the borough's adopted budget.
Council members last week adopted the general operating budget, which sets the real estate tax at 35.524 mills, the same as it has been since 2018.
According to the general fund budget summary, estimated revenues in 2023 are $1,688,002.73, and estimated expenditures are $1,684,315.28, leaving a net income balance of $3,687.45.
Borough Manager John Fatula said in the budget summary that while the tax millage remains the same, the allocation to different funds has been adjusted.
The allocation is as follows:
—General fund: 25.5 mills
—Sinking fund: 0.124 mills
—Streetlight fund: 3.85 mills
—Debt reduction fund: 4.75 mills
—Library fund: 0.35 mills
—Fire tax fund: 0.95 mills
Fatula also said that Mahanoy City is scheduled to exit Act 47 in March. The state program is for financially distressed municipalities. The Pennsylvania Economy League is the borough's Act 47 coordinator.
"The Borough has been in Act 47 since 2016, and the long road to financial recovery is almost complete," he said in the summary. "I would like to thank my predecessors, past and present council members, staff, department heads and PEL for their tireless work."
Also at the Dec. 13 meeting, the council announced that residents will again have the opportunity to use services from No Nonsense Neutering, a spay-neuter clinic that formerly operated in the borough.
Starting in 2023, representatives from the Allentown-based clinic will visit Mahanoy City three to four times per year on designated days, Code Enforcement Officer William Killian III said.
No Nonsense Neutering operated a clinic in the former McCann School of Business & Technology building in Mahanoy City until the building was sold in 2020.
From 7 to 7:30 a.m. on the designated visits, residents can go to the parking lot next to the Mahanoy City Elks Lodge, where No Nonsense Neutering will take feral and domestic cats to be spayed or neutered.
The dates for the visits have yet to be determined.
"They'll load them up, take them to Allentown, have them spayed or neutered and then bring them back that evening," Killian said.
Council member Thomas McCabe said the service will help address the overpopulation of stray animals.
"It's a good thing for the community," Fatula said, citing a lack of veterinarians and similar services nearby.
Fatula said that No Nonsense Neutering had expressed a desire to come back to Mahanoy City to tend to its overflowing population of stray cats.
"They did a lot of it when they were here," he said.
In other business, the council also approved:
—A police contract, subject to minor revisions and acceptance by the police union.
—Acquiring bids for the potential installation of a fire alarm system in the James Rhoades building.
—Advertising the amended parking regulations ordinance.
—A resolution and police mutual aid agreement with Rush Twp. Under the agreement, Rush Twp. police will be able to render aid in emergency instances.
—An increase in the salary of the code/police full-time secretary from $16.50 to $18 per hour.
Contact the writer: hlee@republicanherald.com; 570-628-6085
