Palmerton residents will have no property tax increase next year.

Borough council unanimously agreed on Thursday to grant tentative adoption to the 2014 budget with no tax increase.Should council adopt a budget with no tax increase, it would leave the millage rate unchanged at 8.27 mills for a fifth straight year.That would mean the owner of a home with a market value of $100,000, which would be assessed at $50,000, would again pay $413.50 to the borough next year.The last time residents saw a tax increase was in 2009, when council approved a 1.5-mill, or 19-percent, hike that raised the millage rate from 7.77 to 9.27 mills. That meant the owner of a $100,000 home, which was assessed at $50,000, paid $464, up $75 from the $389 they paid in 2008. Also, as part of that budget, residents saw a 10-percent increase in their water rates as well, which resulted in a $1 more a month for a single person, and about $3.50 for a family of four.In 2010, residents actually saw a 1-mill reduction in their property tax rates, which lessened the millage rate from 9.27 to 8.27 mills. That meant the owner of a home with a market value of $100,000, which was assessed at $50,000, paid $413.50 in property taxes that year, down $50.50 from the $464 they paid in 2009. That budget did, however, call for a $10 increase in the monthly sewer ratesAlso on Thursday, council unanimously agreed to award a five-year contract for solid waste collection to Tamaqua Transfer in the amount of $1,767,840.The contract will keep the rates the same for residents, officials noted.In other business, council:• Approved an ordinance to add a handicapped parking space along the west side of Fifth Street, which is the first spot north of Franklin Avenue.• Approved an agreement with First Northern Bank & Trust Co. for payroll direct deposit.• Appointed Brian Price and John Tyahla as seasonal leaf collection employees at the rate of $7.25 an hour until leaf collection is done.• Approved a request from Family Promise of Carbon County to hold a Fun on Wheels Festival in the borough park on Saturday, May 3, 2014.• Announced that the next council meeting will be held at 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 14.