Taxes have gone up in Wyomissing after borough council voted to approve a 1.2-mill increase for the municipal tax rate.<\/p>\n
The increase brings the borough\u2019s rate to 6.65 mills from 5.4 mills, a hike of about 18%, or $125 for a property valued at $100,000.<\/p>\n
In an eleventh-hour decision Dec. 29 before the end-of-the-year deadline, council voted 6-1 to approve the increase after officials initially rejected an earlier proposal for a 22% increase.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat (22%) got knocked down with some savings to insurance costs,\u201d Mayor Fred Levering said.<\/p>\n
Ron Stanko was the sole vote against the 18% hike.<\/p>\n
Levering said the borough has contracts negotiated with unions for police, fire and public works that include incremental increases.<\/p>\n
\u201cAbout 68% of our budget is tied to three organized labor unions,\u201d Levering said. \u201cI can tell you right now that 68% of our budget is going to go up by (about) 3% next year as well. So we have to deal with that.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said the borough has not raised taxes for several years, instead opting to cover the increases using reserve funds.<\/p>\n
\u201cArguably, looking back, it would have been better to have small increases (every year),\u201d Levering said. \u201cBut the effect is basically the same.\u201d<\/p>\n
The increase also covers cost increases for materials and supplies related to infrastructure maintenance and operations, like the cost of gas for police and public works vehicles.<\/p>\n
Levering said some of the increased attendance at recent budget meetings had to do with misreporting on social media that led some residents to think that a 22% increase would apply to their entire real estate tax bill.<\/p>\n
He noted the borough\u2019s real estate tax bill is broken down into three charges: from the county, the Wyomissing School District and the borough.<\/p>\n
\u201cThirteen percent of the total tax bill ends up being the borough tax bill,\u201d Levering said. \u201cSo the 22% increase would only have been applied to that 13%.\u201d<\/p>\n