Fountain Hill’s final budget meeting in mid-December resulted in a .5 mil tax increase. Council member Helen Halleman insisted in a later interview that in 20 years on council she’d never voted for a tax increase, and she was vehemently against this one as it will compound issues of a large senior population on a fixed income and the fact that rental properties outnumber owner-occupied properties in the borough.

“This is going to put a big burden on our taxpayers,” she said.

Council President Leo Atkinson in a phone interview said the increase in unfortunately necessary to address unexpected police pension issues and worsening borough infrastructure.

According to Atkinson, the sanitary sewer system and roads, notably Ostrum Street, were marked for maintenance and repair over 15 years ago and nothing was done, so the toll must be paid with a several-million-dollar cost.

“We knew about some of these things years ago and they weren’t acted upon. The message we want to send people is we’re trying to put ourselves in a good financial situation [in preparation for] 20 years from now.”

Additionally, some residents in 2020 will see an expense the borough hasn’t faced before: The state’s Department of Environmental Protection is now requiring storm water management plans and initiatives in municipalities, and for mountainside Fountain Hill, with its large, aging buildings, mandatory infrastructure compliance will require the creation of a new governing body - a Storm Water Authority - and fees of about $750,000.

Atkinson said this will be paid over two years and $40,000 has already been paid.

He explained the authority will have the power to levy a fee - not a tax - on property owners, determined by the amount of their water-imporous surfaces. These include home and garage roofs, parking lots and driveways, and will apply even to entities that are tax-exempt, such as churches and hospitals.

The borough’s reorganization meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Jan. 6 at borough hall.