SAXONBURG — The borough council is looking into the possibility of a property tax increase in 2016 to hire an additional full-time police officer.

On Wednesday, borough manager Mary Papik presented a $700,000 preliminary budget for next year to council that did not feature a tax increase. However, after discussion to add a second full-time officer, she now is working on an alternative budget with a tax increase.

Papik said the borough is estimating it would take a 1.5 mill increase to pay for a full-time officer. A mill generates $1 in tax for every $1,000 of a property’s assessed value.

She did not have an estimate of how much this would affect the average property owner’s tax bill.

If an additional full-timer is hired, Papik said the amount of money the borough spends on part-time officers will decrease. She said the borough is estimating the total additional cost would be $15,000 to $18,000.

Chief Joe Beachem is the borough’s only full-time officer. It has 10 part-time officers.

Mayor Pam Bauman said she made the request for a second full-time officer.

“I would love to see that,” Bauman said.

She said it is hard to have good police coverage with only one full-timer. She said the part-timers do a good job, but it can be hard to schedule them.

The borough used to have a second full-time officer, but Bauman said that position was cut several years ago.

The borough’s property tax rate is 20.66 mills. Residents also pay an additional debt service tax totaling 2 mills.

Other major expenditures in the preliminary budget, Papik said, included a stormwater project and a street project. The street project will either be paving and milling or just paving. Papik said she is not sure what road or roads would be included.

Additional budget discussion will take place 7 p.m. Nov. 4.