EVANS CITY — Council leaders passed a balanced budget Monday night, with no changes to the existing real estate tax rate for property owners within the community.

Projected expenditures for the 2023 fiscal year amount to $868,860, which leaders expect to counter with a projected $868,860 in revenue.

Some of the larger costs include contracted police services at $325,000, full-time wages for public works projects at $109,000 and health insurance for full-time borough employees at $38,500. Leaders project major sources of revenue to include earned income taxes from residents and sales on sewer assets, which should reach $190,000 and $118,300, respectively.

The real estate tax for the borough’s general fund should serve as the largest revenue source, bringing in $205,000 next year.

The budget reflects few notable changes from last year, but Councilman Mark R. Widdersheim believes the council will likely raise property taxes in 2024 or beyond to better fund key services, such as paving roads.

“We’ll probably be looking at tax increases in the future,” Widdersheim said. “We’re not going to raise them for 2023.”

Widdersheim anticipates the council will likely raise property taxes to better fund key services, such as paving roads, in 2024 or beyond.

“We don’t pave a lot of roads in a year’s time, so having a little bit more money would better enable us to provide those services to the community,” he said.

Council President Cheri Deener-Kohan broke down the “millage rate” as it’s continued from last year, which charges an overall tax rate of 21.25 mills for every dollar of property value, or .2125 cents for every $100 of property value.

Deener-Kohan said the borough collects 1.5 mills of the overall property tax rate to fund fire protection services and 1.7 mills to fund street lighting. These taxes, the budget, projects, will amount to $15,000 for the fire tax and $16,000 for street lighting.

Several borough council members and the borough secretary Elizabeth Crowley collaborated to prepare the 2023 approved budget.

The real estate tax rate was approved as a resolution, rather than an ordinance, since there were no changes made.

Mayor Dean Zinkhann proposed a new banner for the 2022 Veteran of the Year award-winner David Smith, since Smith has an Evans City address. He didn’t know whether the council wished to present him with the banner within Evans City, as a surprise, although the council didn’t yet determine those details.

Council members unanimously voted to approve the banner in Smith’s honor.

Smith received the award for his service with Bantam Marine Detachment 743 of the Marine Corps League during the Vietnam War.