The Palmerton Borough Council approved the advertisement of two ordinances concerning 2017 tax rates at Thursday's meeting.

The first one will set Palmerton's millage rate for property taxes, including a much-needed increase.The tax rate for general purposes was set at 8.78 mills per dollar of assessed property value, the recreation purposes rate was set at 0.74 mills per dollar, and the debt reduction rate was set at 2.25 mills, totaling 11.77 mills per dollar.As the millage rates had not been raised in almost a decade, the borough council saw fit to include the 2.25-mill increase in order to provide for several important issues."One-quarter mill will go into the recreation fund, 1 mill goes toward a new police officer, and 1 mill will go toward the general fund," borough manager Rodger P. Danielson said.Danielson had said that the borough's 2017 general budget was looking at a deficit of $163,000, though he did clarify that the actual figure would like be around $80,000. With a 1-mill increase bringing in about $80,000, the measure should cover the gap for the general budget.The mill increase for a police officer comes off as a necessary expense, with a 71 percent increase in total calls taken, a 52 percent increase in premises checks, a 34 percent increase in DUIs, a 73 percent increase in mental health incidents, and a 55 percent increase in drug-related activity for the year to date.The quarter-mill for recreation will go toward updating and maintaining playground equipment. Council said Horsehead Holding is not able to contribute what it once did to the recreation fund.Danielson said that the total 2.25-mill increase will likely amount to about $8.50 per month, per household.The second ordinance will re-enact a grouping of taxing ordinances dubbed as the 'Local Tax Enabling Act' for the 2017 fiscal year. This includes a $10 per capita tax, a 1 percent earned income tax, a 1 percent real estate transfer tax, a $52 local service tax, and an unspecified mechanical devices tax.