Harmony Borough Council worked on its 2027 budget at its Tuesday, Nov. 10, meeting, according to council President Greg Such.

The $893,855 budget looks to be a balanced one without a tax increase, Such said, even after taking into account staff pay raises and health insurance costs “going through the roof,” but Such said he expects an increase being added before final approval.

Harmony EMS has requested additional financial support from the 10 municipalities it serves, including the borough. If municipalities in southwest Butler County served by Harmony EMS decide to allocate some additional money to support the nonprofit, the borough may increase taxes to do so as well, Such said.

“I’m thinking that it will happen, but it hasn’t been totally determined yet,” he said.

“If we have to go back and reopen it, then we’ll do that,” Such added. “Next month, we’ll probably know by then.”

Council considered different plans and options to avoid any tax boosts, Such said. Council members decided to move their plan down a tier to meet that goal.

“We had to move from a gold plan down to a silver plan,” he said. “Our gold plan, the one we had last year, increased 14.5%.”

Council managed to minimize the 2027 increase to 7% with the plan switch.

“We also made some other personnel policy adjustments to make sure that some of our staff members didn’t end up paying more than they had in years past,” he said.

Harmony’s budget is set for vote in December, Such said.