Being a property owner in the borough of Tamaqua is going to cost more next year.

Borough council voted to adopt a significant increase in both the flat and metered rate schedule for sewage collection and motioned to advertise a 2017 budget that contains a 2-mill tax increase for 2017. Flat sewage rates will jump from $65 per quarter to $85 per quarter, an increase of $80 annually.Residents can also expect to pay approximately $20 more per $10,000 assessed property value in taxes, as well.Borough Manager Kevin Steigerwalt said the tax increase is an "overall reflection" of the rising costs to operate the borough."Wages have gone up, benefits have gone up, increases in pension plan contributions," he said.Although the borough was able to hold the line last year and not raise them for 2016, another increase could not be avoided.In the proposed budget, 20.25 mills will be dedicated to general purposes, with another 1 mill going to the building and equipment fund, and 0.5 mills going to the Wabash Capital Improvement Fund.Councilman Ron Bowman was the sole dissenting vote against the proposed budget."I understand where we are at," he said. "I know it's all justifiable, but we've already increased the sewage. Now we're going to increase the taxes."It may not seem like a lot to the average person with a fair income. Can I absorb it? Sure, I can," he said, "but there are a lot of less fortunate people with two working people in a family with children that can't swing it."Council approved the advertisement of the proposed budget on a vote of 5-1, with Bowman being the single nay.In other sewer related matters, Councilman Micah Gursky related a recent meeting, held with representatives from DEP and from the Coaldale-Lansford-Summit Hill Sewer Authority, regarding sewage discharge and overflow from the other three communities, which is affecting the Panther Creek that flows into Tamaqua."It was as doom and gloom a meeting as any I've ever been to," Gursky said.Councilman Tom Cara said he thought the other sewer authority had similar issues to the ones currently facing the Tamaqua plant, related to facility upgrades. It turns out the collection system in the Panther Valley is a bigger problem than that."The pipes are leaky. Rain water gets into the pipes, and the sewage gets out," he said.Ultimately, the magnitude of the problem and the resources of the communities in question present a nearly unsolvable problem, one that DEP seems reluctant to force a solution to."The DEP is not going to do anything about it," Cara said."We've had our issues," said Councilman Brian Connely, "and they came down on us. And rightly so. But it seems that here, they're looking the other way.""Their lack of funding should not be our problem," Mayor Christian Morrison said.Council approved proceeding with a plan to send a letter to Scott Novatnak, project manager with DEP, expressing concerns about the negative impact of the overflow situation on the Panther Creek, the Little Schuylkill River, and the borough of Tamaqua, and copy state Sens. Dave Argall and John Yudichak, and Reps. Jerry Knowles and Doyle Heffley on the matter."It's a good first step," Gursky said.