SEVEN FIELDS — Borough council Monday voted to approve and advertise a preliminary budget that will keep property taxes flat.

The proposed budget calls for $1.27 million in expenditures, nearly the same as the 2016 budget of $1.26 million, according to budget documents.

The borough will maintain its property tax rate of 7 mills, which means property owners will pay $7 per $1,000 of assessed value.

The borough is keeping taxes and expenditures flat, despite some increasing costs. Health insurance costs are expected to increase by 13.5 percent, while life insurance contribution and salaries will increase by 3 percent each.

The budget is balanced with an anticipated surplus of $28,900.

Council President Jennifer Sikora said officials have worked to avoid tax increases in recent years.

“I think it is a good spending plan,” Sikora said. “The borough has a history of being very conservative with their budgeting and we try to do projects that are worthwhile and benefit the whole community.”

The borough is planning several capital expenditures in the coming year.

It will spend $250,000 on road resurfacing. The roads slated for 2017 are Castle Creek Drive, Georgetown Court and Fairfax Court.

The second largest project will be $50,000 for the third and final phase of playground resurfacing in the borough’s parks.

The playground in the North Ridge Drive Park and some of the playground area in the Seven Fields Municipal Park were outfitted with a rubber surface, replacing the mulch that was previously there. The municipal park playground will be finished next year.

The rubber surface is more cost effective than mulch, because it doesn’t need to be replaced as often and doesn’t get the equipment dirty, Sikora said.

The borough’s public works department will replace one of its trucks, an estimated cost of $21,000, and public works will be upgrading 30 sidewalks to be in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, at a cost of $10,000.

The borough will again spend $30,000 on its annual community carnival, which was held this year during Labor Day weekend. This year’s carnival brought in $7,745 in donations in excess of what the carnival vendors charged. That money goes back into the general fund.

The Evans City-Seven Fields Regional Police Commission, which has representatives from each borough, also recently approved a preliminary budget. The proposed spending for 2017 is $668,115, a decrease from this year’s budget of $673,363.

The budget includes $22,436 for police vehicle leases. The department is planning to replace two older Dodge Charger police vehicles. It will try out reducing its fleet to only four vehicles, but has an option to get a fifth, Sikora said.

Evans City will contribute $314,014 to the police, while Seven Fields will contribute $354,100.