ZELIENOPLE — Borough council approved the 2015 borough budget Monday morning that calls for no tax property rate increase, but it does increase utility rates.

It is for $10.23 million.

The borough’s tax rates are 1.81 mills for general purpose, 3 mills for fire protection and 0.5 mill for the library.

A mill is equal to $1 in tax revenue for each $1,000 of a property’s assessed value. In 2015, one mill will bring in $28,909 for the borough.

Electric rates will increase by 7.7 percent and the water rate will increase by 4 percent, both of which are rate increases from the wholesaler that the borough passes on to its customers.

Though its budget is set, the borough still has several financial issues it will discuss in early 2015.

The borough recently got a $1.2 million state grant, borough manager Don Pepe said.

The money came from an H20 PA grant for reimbursement of a now-completed $11 million water improvements project.

The project included the installation of an 11-mile line that connects the borough to the Beaver Municipal Falls Authority. The borough paid about $6 million for the project.

The $1.2 million reimbursement grant goes into the general fund. Council will decide what it is used for, Pepe said.

One use could be for phase one of the Main Street revitalization project.

Council will discuss establishing a spending plan for the first phase of the project during the first quarter of 2015, Pepe said.

The borough has about $3.4 million from five grants it has received for that project.

The most recent grant was $3 million from the state Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program, of which about $2.25 million goes to Main Street and the rest to the Kaufman House.

A spreadsheet distributed by President Allen Bayer at council’s Dec. 8 meeting showed a preliminary estimate of $5.1 million for the first series of projects. They would include acquiring property and building a new parking lot and doing work on Main Street between Spring Street and New Castle Street.

The borough also can borrow up to $1.85 million to cover required matching costs and other expenses. The H20 grant money could be used for the Main Street project, which would mean the borough would need to borrow at most $650,000.

The borough plans to start some of the work in 2015.

“This will get the snowball rolling with funding,” Bayer said.

Its hope is to have the entire project done in three to five years, he said.