EVANS CITY — During a meeting on Monday, Dec. 1, members of borough council unanimously approved the 2026 budget without a tax increase.

The millage rate remained steady at 21.25 mills, with another 1.75 mills each levied for a fire tax and a road improvement tax. One mill is equivalent to $1 of tax for every $1,000 of a property’s assessed value.

“With Seneca Valley raising taxes over the next two years, we would like our residents to be able to eat,” Council Member Patty Tumminello-Murphy said about the decision. “We feel they were selfish in raising their taxes that much.”

The total $1,056,008 balanced budget does not include any major changes beyond the plan to add a new employee to the payroll.

Evans City also unanimously moved forward with the hiring of a part-time director of operations that will oversee finances and much of the other operations of the borough.

That individual will work 24 hours per week and is projected to make about $18,966 over the course of a full year.

“There’s just not enough time,” said Tumminello-Murphy on why the borough needs another employee. “We all work full-time positions, and there’s too much going on. We need somebody to corral everything together.”

The plan, officials said, is to conduct interviews over the next few weeks so that individual can begin working in early January.

Meanwhile, public works remains the most expensive line item in the borough’s budget, coming in at a cost of $389,866. That’s largely due to Evans City’s ongoing efforts repairing roads and making stormwater improvements.

That amount is followed closely by $207,790 for a police department the borough has methodically worked to rebuild with all part-time officers in recent years. There’s another $27,400 allocated to fire protection, bringing the total public safety amount in next year’s budget to $237,940.

There was also a $189,998 allotment for general government, a 32% increase from the 2025 budget mostly tied to the new director of operations position.

In other business, council members unanimously approved the reappointment of Councilman Mark Widdersheim to a five-year term as Evans City’s representative on the Southwest Butler Stormwater Authority Board.