Northampton Borough Council approved the 2021 budget and 11.5-mill tax rate during the Dec. 17 meeting. The budget includes a 1-mill tax increase.

Before the vote, Councilman Robert McHale shared some thoughts on the budget. He asked if there were any nondiscretionary spending items in the budget where council could trim expenses and if they could “tighten their belt” a bit to spare the residents a tax hike.

He offered a few suggestions about where the trimming could occur in the budget, including postponing the police vehicle or the public works backhoe purchases; reducing the annual contribution for the fire department, EMS or library; looking at the pool costs; or changing the MS4 stormwater fund process.

McHale proposed implementing a fee structure to collect the funds instead of putting a strain on the budget. His plan includes collecting a fee for each parcel in the borough based on the size of the impervious coverage, which directly contributes to stormwater runoff.

He suggested all parcels contribute to the fee, including tax-exempt entities.

Borough Manager LeRoy Brobst noted it would be a challenge to get the program on its feet for 2021, as they would need to get the square footage of the impervious land for each parcel in Northampton.

Councilwoman Judy Kutzler recommended making bigger cuts instead of looking at smaller line items. She was staunchly opposed to making cuts from EMS services.

Police Chief Bryan Kadingo recommended not putting off the police vehicle purchase. He said when they put it off in the past, the maintenance costs of the remaining vehicles would rise, and they risked facing a vehicle breakdown or loss of functionality, leaving the department underequipped.

Council passed the budget and tax rate, with McHale and Councilman Anthony Pristash voting no.

Council members gave credit to the public works crews for the response to the Dec. 16 snowstorm. They noted the long hours and late-night work made for a well-prepared response to the storm.

Council next meets 7:30 p.m. Jan. 7, 2021. It is expected the next few meetings will be held virtually.