As budget time approaches, Councilman Brian Connely asked Tamaqua Borough Council to consider dedicating a portion of the millage to a fire tax to aid the town’s fire companies that are struggling with fundraising in the current climate.

“This would take the place of the annual allocation from the borough,” he said.

Connely said that the plan is not without its drawbacks, as people who know that they are already being taxed for a service may not donate to the annual fund drive.

Connely said that the annual millage rate could conceivably stay the same, even with the 2-mill allocation he was proposing, but then the general fund balance would be affected.

Councilman Ron Bowman said that he had given the matter “a lot of thought,” and “had concerns” about putting the borough in a position where they could not raise taxes to cover the regular budget.

While he understands the plight of the fire companies, Bowman said, “There are a lot of people in this town making less than $45,000, and you have your older and fixed-income people. We don’t want to drive them out of their homes.”

Bowman added that empty homes are not bringing in tax revenue, and eventually become dilapidated structures that the borough has to spend money on to demolish.

Councilman David Mace asked borough Manager Kevin Steigerwalt to consider the proposal as he prepares the 2021 budget.

“We may need to see some different iterations, what a fire tax might look like, and what it might allow us to do with the general fund.”

Steigerwalt said that the borough has had such a tax in the past; however, as a dedicated millage, it required its own separate account, and managing that account had become cumbersome.

Connely concluded by saying that “this is our first run up the flagpole about this, and we need to know what people think.”

In other budgetary items, Treasurer Georgia Depos Dewire informed council that the minimum municipal obligations for the borough for the uniformed and nonuniformed pension funds will be in the approximate amount of $466,636.

Depos Dewire said that in 2019, the borough received approximately $209,000 from the state to offset the total responsibility of the borough, but that the borough is still waiting on its 2020 allocation, and she does not know what the state contribution will be for 2021.

With or without state aid, the borough is responsible for meeting the obligation.