ZELIENOPLE — Borough council has decided against implementing the emergency and municipal service tax on those employed in the borough, at least for now.

Council on Monday night voted by a 4-3 margin to defeat a proposed $52 EMS tax that would have been levied on all workers in the borough making more than $12,000 per year.

A second motion to levy a $10 EMS tax initially to gauge the success of the first year of its collection, with the same annual salary requirement, also died on the table.

Though the tax was defeated, councilman Bill Dickinson said the issue could come up later.

For this year's township budget, however, an EMS tax is unlikely because the budget can't be reopened after Feb. 15 and there is a requirement to advertise the new tax before that date. Council passed the $8 million 2006 borough budget with no tax increase on Dec. 26.

Borough manager Donald Pepe said because the borough never had an occupation privilege tax, which was replaced by the EMS tax, he could not produce absolute revenue figures for the new EMS tax.

It would take a year of collecting the tax before solid revenue information could be produced, he said.

However, the borough estimated a $10 EMS tax would bring in $10,000 to $13,000 annually.

According to Pepe's research and figures provided by Berkheimer Associates, the borough's tax collecting firm, there are 1,374 workers in the borough and 90 percent of them are residents.

But with the borough having a population of just more than 4,000, councilman Russ Robertson said he couldn't believe those figures that state almost half of the population lives and works in the borough.

"You won't ever have an informed decision (on the EMS tax) because you don't have a basis," said Robertson.

Councilwoman Marietta Reeb said she was totally against the new tax

Councilman James Zeigler said, "It's an unfair tax, especially for those making minimum wage in places like our restaurants," said Zeigler.

Dickinson had lobbied the council to start with a $10 tax, rather than $52, to gauge the revenue. He didn't believe the $10 was a heavy burden for employees. Dickinson's later motion to do that failed.

Other council members, including Drew Mathew and Allen Bayer, said there are many projects in the borough that needed to get going and the new revenues from the $52 tax would help jump start some of those projects.

The EMS tax, passed by the Legislature as part of the financial recovery plan for Pittsburgh in 2004, gained popularity with municipalities as a way to increase their revenues.

The money can be used only for police, fire, or emergency services; road construction or maintenance; or for property tax reduction.

Since its passage, many municipalities across the state have approved it.