Nesquehoning residents may see a slight increase in their real estate taxes in 2016 due to rising health care costs for borough employees.

On Wednesday, borough council adopted a tentative spending plan for next year that includes a 0.5-mill increase, bringing the borough's millage to 17. The total budget as proposed comes to $1,703,335.99.That means that a $100,000 home assessed at $50,000 will see an increase in real estate taxes of $25 next year.Councilman Frank Jacobs outlined the budget before the vote. The 0.5-mill increase will be put into the general fund.The millage breakdown is that 15.2 goes into the general fund, 1.5 mills goes into the fire protection fund, and 0.3 mills goes into the recreation fund.Jacobs pointed out that the increase was due to rising health care coverage for employees, which the borough has no control over. For 2016, the borough will pay an additional $250 a month for employees on family plans, bringing a monthly bill per plan to $2,020; and an additional $100 a month for individual plans. The borough currently has nine employees on family plans and two on individual plans.Because of the continuous rising costs, council decided that it will look into changing health care providers to see if they can see a savings on the plans.The borough has a contract with Benecon to provide health insurance coverage. The contract expires at the end of the year, but under the terms of the contract, Nesquehoning was supposed to tell them by June 30 if they were not going to continue the contract.Solicitor Robert Yurchak said that the June 30 deadline was not feasible because the company didn't provide the increased costs to the borough until October.Secretary/treasurer RoniSue Ahner said that if the borough can find a company that would provide a savings of tens of thousands annually, then the borough would have no problem breaking contract and paying the few thousand dollar penalty fees.Council also pointed out that over the past decade, a mill has dropped by approximately $20,000, which has put a strain on the borough. One mill currently represents about $63,000.Mill dollar figures are determined based on property values, reassessments and home sales.Council will meet during a special meeting in December to further discuss the budget and finalize figures before final adoption at the regular meeting on Dec. 16.In a related matter, council adopted the 2016 sewer budget, which calls for no increase.That means the residents will again pay the same for sewer and garbage as last year.