Palmerton Borough Council had some special guests at Thursday night’s meeting — members of Cub Pack 41, Webelos 1 and 2.

The Scouts attended the meeting to learn about local government, and to earn some special badges.“One of their requirements for the Betterment of the Community badge is to come to an event with a political leader, see how they operate, learn about what their job is, observe different issues that there are in the area, and see what opportunities there are to correct them,” Pack 41 leader Jason Behler said.After sitting through the council meeting, which saw the passing of the new 2017 budget and tax rates, in addition to a discussion on the Palmerton School District land development plan, the kids got a chance to ask Council Vice President Kris Hoffner about local government.“We learned about the problems in Palmerton, and what they’re fixing, like the park, the streets and the police,” Webelo No. 2’s Reese Balk, 10, said.Hoffner explained the role of Council President Terry L. Costenbader, how the board gets funding and what they do with it, and what committees are and how they work.And then, Webelo No. 2’s Shane Hughes, 10, came up with a tough question to grill the vice president.“Why are you making the roads in Palmerton 2 inches higher?” Hughes said, followed by a round of laughter from Hoffner and the crowd.Hoffner did address the question, however, saying that the roads had not been paved in 20 years and were in need of repairs, but hopefully by next week the project would be completed.After the question and answer session, Bahler and the Scouts thanked Hoffner for the opportunity to observe local government in action. Hoffner was grateful for the opportunity, noting that he had taught fourth grade — including aspects of government — for 34 years and missed the experience sometimes. He made special note of the value of seeing local government in action, especially for the young crowd.“They see stuff like this in the paper, or they hear their parents talk, but to actually come and see government working, see the legislative process happening right in front of them, it’s a good experience,” Hoffner said.In other newsThe borough council unanimously approved several finance committee measures.The first sets the general purpose tax rate at 8.78 mills, the recreation purposes rate at 0.74 mills, and the debt reduction rate at 2.25 mills. The total comes to 11.77 mills, though borough manager Rodger P. Danielson has said that the debt reduction increase should only amount to about $8.50 a month per household.The second put the following taxes into effect for 2017, without change from last year — a $10 per capita tax, a 1 percent earned income tax, a 1 percent real estate transfer tax, a $52 local services tax, and an unspecified mechanical devices tax.A resolutionnamed Kirk, Summa & Company auditors for the 2016 accounts.Under new business, the borough council briefly discussed the Palmerton School District land development plan.Danielson said that the bulk of the project falls under property owned by Lower Towamensing Township, and that only about 2 percent was situated in the Palmerton borough.“The borough engineer has reviewed it. He more or less had some editorial comments. The planning commission approved it, and they approved sending a recommendation to council to give a plan approval based on meeting those comments made by the engineer,” Danielson said.The approval of the land development plan, conditional upon addressing the engineer’s comments, was granted.