Weatherly Borough Council members say they do not anticipate raising residents' property taxes or utility rates in 2016.

Council is in the process of finalizing the borough's 2016 budget. At a meeting on Monday, board members voted to advertise a proposed spending plan totaling about $5.4 million - roughly $200,000 more than 2015. That figure includes the borough's general fund as well as its water, sewer, and electric utilities.Council members Thomas Connors, Joseph D'Andrea, and Norman Richie voted in favor of the budget. Cecilia Gower voted against, but when asked, declined to explain why.Joseph Cyburt, Harold Farrow and George Miller were absent."Like all budgets, it's not perfect. But the fact that it holds the line on taxes and utilities, and creates some savings, I'm in support of it," Connors said.The board has managed to hold the line on taxes nine out of the last 10 years. Connors, who also serves as mayor, said that 2014 was the borough's only tax increase during that time.The budget includes money for a project to paint a water tower located off West Main Street, something that Connors said council has wanted to work on for several years. That project could cost $200,000.The millage rate will remain at 6.3. The anticipated tax bill on a house assessed at $100,000 would be $630. Other taxes are also unchanged, with a $5 per capita tax, $52 local service tax, and a half-mill for earned income tax.Council will vote on the budget at their December meeting. If the vote goes the same way it did Monday, and Cyburt, Farrow and Miller vote against it, they may have to hold a special meeting to pass the spending plan before the end of the year.Council also voted to purchase a sign to mark the Charles Schwab High School, which longtime residents regard as the symbol of their town.The sign will cost about $30, and come from a local Weatherly business, borough officials said.Connors said that the sign will inform visitors who may not be familiar with the school's history. In 1901, Charles Schwab, an executive with U.S. Steel and Bethlehem Steel, donated the money for a school to be built in honor of his wife, a Weatherly native. The borough's residents chose a school when Schwab asked what gift they would like.The school closed in 1991, and is currently in private hands.The sign will also mark First Presbyterian Church as the oldest congregation in the area, dating back to the mid-1800s.