Petersburg assembly approves multiple ordinances, budget adjustments and land permits; several utility rate changes pass

The Petersburg Borough Assembly on June 16 approved a package of ordinances and motions that included changes to utility rates, a proposed sales-tax exemption amendment for seniors to go before voters, adjustments to the property development fund, and several land-use and permit decisions.

The assembly unanimously agreed to send Ordinance 2025-06 to voters; the measure would limit the borough's sales tax exemption for seniors to low-income seniors if approved in three readings and by qualified borough voters. The assembly also approved several utility-related ordinances on third and final reading: updates to the electric utility code (Ordinance 2025-07), the water rate schedule (Ordinance 2025-08), and sewer collection rates (Ordinance 2025-09). The assembly added a new fee category for sanitation services to marine passenger ships (Ordinance 2025-10). Several of those rate ordinances were presented as required by a recent rate-study analysis designed to keep borough utilities solvent and maintain infrastructure.

Other formal actions taken at the meeting included rezoning a parcel at 1016 Sandy Beach Road from rural residential to single-family residential ahead of a public auction (Ordinance 2025-11), a supplemental…