Tarentum property tax could jump 9% next year to help fire companies

Tarentum real estate owners would see their taxes go up 9.1% in 2025 under council’s proposed budget.

The $4.7 million proposed budget would raise taxes by one-half mill from the current rate of 5.48 mills.

The increase is specifically targeted to benefit the borough’s three fire companies as a fire tax.

For a homeowner whose property is assessed at the borough’s median value of $40,000, the half-mill increase means the tax on that property would rise by $20, to $239 per year.

For a person whose property has a higher assessment of $100,000, the increase would result in an additional $50 a year in taxes. That property’s tax would increase from the current $548 per year to $598.

Council is expected to pass a final budget Dec. 10.

Volunteer fire companies across Pennsylvania have been struggling financially for years as aging vehicles must be replaced or undergo costly repairs; fuel costs have climbed; equipment must be updated; and fundraisers, not to mention staffing calls, have been adversely impacted as the rolls of active volunteers have declined.

That has left municipalities and fire companies scrambling to meet expenses and maintain their essential services.

With the fire tax designation, the borough is locked into how the projected $44,000 in proceeds are used.

“We can’t use that money,” borough Manager Dwight Boddorf told council. “It has to be for the fire department.

“This millage increase is to make sure they have the resources and equipment they need.”

Proceeds from the tax increase would be divided equally among the three fire companies — Eureka, Highland Hose and Summit Hose — with each receiving $14,666.

Financial assistance from the borough to the fire companies for years has come in the form of yearly contributions approved by council.

This year, those per-company contributions climbed to $17,000, from $12,500, in 2023.

Those will remain in effect in 2025, despite the imposition of the fire tax, along with money allocated for fuel expenses, truck repairs, building repairs and insurances.

Electric bill increasing

Another area of the proposed budget that would result in higher costs to Tarentum residents is the borough-owned electric distribution grid, according to Boddorf.

He said negotiations with a new power supplier on a five-year contract are nearing the end, with the borough looking at a rate of $54 per megawatt as compared to the current rate of $35 per megawatt. That’s a 54% increase.

The borough does not need to raise its base cost per kilowatt hour because of the new contract, Boddorf said.

But, he said a 1.8-cent-per-kilowatt hour fee must be added to all borough power schedules to cover an increase in capacity costs expected to be somewhere between $800,000 and $900,000.

The capacity fees are payments charged by PJM Interconnection, the regional transmission organization that coordinates the electric grid across a number of states. The payments are to ensure sufficient power at peak demand times. They affect all of Pennsylvania, along with Ohio, Maryland and New Jersey.

“We are not expecting to use more (power), but this cost is being passed on to us by PJM,” Boddorf told council. “Tarentum doesn’t need to raise its prices. This is being forced on us by PJM.”

No hike in garbage, water rates

Two areas where property owners will not see any cost increases are garbage fees and water rates.

“I am happy to say that, for the first time in many years, in 2025 we will not be subsidizing the water fund from the electric fund,” Boddorf said.

Improvements to the borough-owned water system have been made thanks to grants. The result is a streamlining of operations and reducing the number of shifts at the treatment plant from three to two and a savings in overtime, he said.

Tom Yerace is a TribLive contributing writer.