Coaldale Borough Council has passed a 2017 budget that includes a 2-mill tax increase to fund road repairs in the borough.

Council voted 4-0 Tuesday night to approve a 2017 spending plan, with council members Tom Keerans, Francis Hutta and Michael Doerr absent.The budget includes $2,087,877 in expenditures. That is about $180,000 more than the 2016 budget.The town's tax rate will be 23.54 mills for 2017. There is also a 2-mill light tax, a 1-mill fire tax and a one-half mill tax to help fund the borough's pension obligations.Councilwoman Claire Remington said that the primary reason for the increase is to fund street repairs."We are doing some work, but it isn't going to happen without an increase," she said.Other expenses that increased in the budget were the borough's pension and health care costs, as well as the cost of road equipment repairs.