Evans City officials approved a balanced 2025 budget totaling $1,041,533 at a meeting earlier this month, a $180,000 increase compared to the 2024 edition of the budget due to an increase in the fire tax.

The fire tax increased from 1.5 to 1.75 mills, which was a move to keep up with inflation, according to borough secretary and treasurer Lori Brooks. All of the millage rates remained the same, she said.

“Anything that’s collected under fire millage goes directly to the fire department,” she said. “It’s just more of an inflationary thing because everything costs so much more. We felt that would give them the enough money. We figured it could help cover those higher equipment costs.”

For property owners, 1 mill is equivalent to $1 per $1,000 dollars of their home’s assessed value.

Once again, the borough’s largest expense was police department services. After being under the microscope heading into last year’s budget discussions, council allocated a flat $200,000 for the department for a second-straight year.

“It’s just based on the hours we feel that the officers will be working,” Brooks said. “It’s based on having three part-time officers working however many hours each week.”

Evans City and Seven Fields have yet to come to an agreement regarding three police vehicles following the dissolution of the Evans City Seven Fields Police Department at the end of 2023. Any potential agreement in the coming months would not factor into the police department’s allocation for next year, Brooks said.

When factoring in $26,000 for fire protection costs and a few miscellaneous items that come attached to it, the borough devoted $232,550 for public safety costs.

The second largest expense comes from full-time wages for public works employees. By factoring in wage increases for three employees, the borough will devote $168,825 to that category in 2025, an increase from $154,648 in 2024.

While engineering services remained steady at $10,000 from last year’s budget, a $6,000 increase came from grant applications as the borough seeks funding for stormwater solutions.

“We need to pay the engineer to be able to do the plans, so we can chase the money for grants,” Brooks said.

Employee insurance benefits totaled $81,524 and employer-paid benefits totaled $73,713.