Northampton Borough Council passed the borough budget for 2018 at their Dec. 21 meeting, retaining the current millage rate for borough taxes.
Council voted unanimously to keep the tax rate for general borough purposes at 10 mills on each dollar of assessed value. The millage rate remains the same as the year prior, and the ordinance passed to fix the tax rate also re-enacts the borough rates for the earned income tax, the local services tax, the real estate transfer tax, among others.
Borough council also voted unanimously to advertise a rental unit inspection ordinance. With the draft ordinance advertised, borough council will schedule a public hearing before passage to hear concerns and suggestions from residents on the proposed ordinance.
Borough resident Joan Marinkovits raised some early concerns she had about the draft ordinance, pertaining to language that would require landlords to purchase a license for each unit that they own, as well as language that would require landlords to get relicensed every year.
“Why would you have to do that?” Marinkovits asked borough council. “I really think some of this has to be looked over and fine-tuned.”
In other business, council voted to co-host a shredding event sponsored by state Rep. Zachary Mako, after the success of the borough’s October shredding event, which was also co-hosted by Mako and the borough. The shredding event will take place on Saturday, April 14, 2018 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Northampton Community Center parking lot.
The next Northampton Borough Council meeting will be a reorganizational meeting on Tuesday, Jan 2, 2018.
