Council OKs 2.9% Tax Hike, Tents for Restaurants

Pottstown Borough Council made it official Monday night and adopted the $49 million budget for 2021 that will raise property taxes by 2.9 percent.

For a residential property assessed at $85,000 the annual increase from the tax hike will add up to $32.48 more per year. The new tax rate is 13.543 mills.

Sixth Ward Councilman Michael Paules cast the only votes against the budget and against the tax levy that will fund it.

Although he offered no comment at the meeting, Paules subsequently emailed this reporter Monday night and wrote "it seems to me that this isn't a council for the people of the town but it is a council for a few blocks on high street and more for the trees than the people."

Paules also voted against a move by council to try to assist the downtown restaurants by allowing tents to be erected on two borough properties. 

The tents, which would be heated and allow outdoor dining, will be located at Smith Family Plaza in front of borough hall and at the parking lot at East High and South Charlotte streets.

Other tents will be set up at The Alley and the Iron Gate Biergarten on High Street, but because both of those will be on private property, no council action was required.

The council effort was undertaken with coordination with the Pottstown Area Industrial Development agency, which oversees Pottstown's economic development efforts and has found that many restaurants are suffering from the restrictions being placed on them due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Peggy Lee-Clark, executive director of PAID, said the ban on indoor dining during the surge in COVID-19 cases "caught restaurant owners by surprise and at a time that the hospitality are really dependent on."

Lee-Clark said restaurant owners are also worried about their employees who, because they are paid partially through tips, will only get a small amount from unemployment, a benefit they likely will be able to access much before January.

More galling for them, she said, was watching "big box stores" stay open with "huge crowds" inside while their smaller establishments are forced to close by the new state regulations.

Council President Dan Weand said council is "willing to be flexible" to try to help those businesses stay open under difficult circumstances.

After the meeting, Paules wrote that he voted against the tenting measure because "I guess they think that businesses are more important than the constituents of the town. The reason I voted nay on those 3 ideas is because they don't help the people at all."

Goodwill Fire Chief Kevin Yerger, left, and 

Pottstown Fire Chief Frank Hand, right, deliver food

donations to Council President Dan Weand Saturday.

In other news, residents were also reminded that there is still time to donate food to the borough food drive. Food can be dropped off at any of the borough's three fire stations. Those who instead want to donate money to buy food should contact the borough manager's office in borough hall (610-970-6511) for more information.

Click here to read the Tweets from last night's meeting.