HARMONY — The 2006 budget was approved 5-2 Tuesday night, with councilmen David Rogers and Russ Ottney voting against it.

The 2006 budget is $428,106, down from the 2005 budget of $456,250 and the 2004 budget of $436,050. The borough's property tax rate will stay at 13 mills, with another mill going toward the fire department. One mill generates about $5,500. A mill produces $1 in property tax revenue for every $1,000 of a property's assessed value.

Rogers said the budget could still be smaller to build more capital funds. "I don't agree with the parks being on the budget. We're paying for something residents aren't using," Rogers said. The parks and recreation spending on the budget is $5,200, but that may not include all the costs associated with maintaining the borough's two parks and one playground.

The borough has finished paying for flood damage from Hurricane Ivan one year ago. That damage played a significant factor in Harmony's 1-mill tax increase in 2005.

A loan for up to $60,000 the borough borrowed last year for flood relief is now paid off, and money from the borough's Emergency Municipal Services tax, also enacted last year, is helping to balance the borough's budget, Smith said.

The Emergency Municipal Services tax charges $52 per year to people who work in the borough. The tax brings in about $27,000 per year, according to the budget.