EMMAUS, Pa. — Tax rates in Emmaus will rise slightly to help meet greater expenses in a budget that boasts more than $10 million more in revenues than the prior year.
Borough property taxes for 2024 are to be set at 8.3155 mills — up 0.134 mills, or 1.6% from the 2023 rate of 8.1815 mills.
A mill equals $1 of tax for every $1,000 of a property's assessed value.
That means the owner of a property assessed at $100,000 for tax purposes would pay $8,371 in property tax — up $189.50 over this year.
That includes a general tax fund tax of 6.4404 mills, a fire fund tax of 1.3961 mills, a special roads fund tax of 0.32 mills and a street light fund tax of 0.159 mills.
"It's much better than what I was expecting when we when we started," Borough Council President Brent Labenberg said at Monday's council meeting.
"It's much better than what I was expecting when we when we started."Emmaus Borough Council President Brent Labenberg
The general tax fund is seeing a slight raise from last year's millage rate of 6.3154, along with the street light fund increasing from 0.15 mills in 2023.
The fire fund tax and special roads fund tax remain unchanged.
The preliminary budget for 2024 is projecting a surplus of $1,370,240.16.
The borough's 2023 budget was projected to be balanced, but instead returned a surplus of $3,016,383. This was greater than the 2022 surplus of $2,853,635.57 — largely because of less expenses than projected across a variety of line items in 2023.
The full budget is currently advertised at borough hall and will be up for final approval at the Dec. 18 borough council meeting.
$16 million PFAS removal system
Water fund expenses grew dramatically, from $2,939,147 to $17,772,220.87, largely done to account for $16 million budgeted for a PFAS removal system to treat the borough's water supply.
To meet that, revenues from a $1.1 million American Rescue Plan Act fund transfer originally slated for last year and $15 million anticipated in revenues from final bill and certification fees were listed. Borough officials said final bill and certification fees are charged during property transfers.
Borough Water Sewer billing clerk Teresa Pohlmann said that type of fee was first implemented in 2023.
Council voted this year to retain its own water supply by treating its wells that have been contaminated by the "forever chemical" pollutants. In May it was projected to cost up to $30 million over 20 years, partially funded by grants.
The capital projects budget, which managed a balanced $9,198,740 in 2023, is down to $2,621,598 in expenses for 2024. The capital projects budget manages funds for construction and renovations projects for municipal buildings, among other things. The decrease is attributed to completion of renovations to Emmaus Borough Hall, police station and central fire station renovations, which were one-time occurrences.
