Borough council members in Volant, Pennsylvania approved a significant property tax increase and it has left the people who live there stunned.

Property owners are concerned about the financial strain this decision could cause. Some residents have publicly claimed the decision was made behind closed doors, although Borough council vice president Glenn Smith tells 21 News the public was given an opportunity to review the budget prior to it being passed.

Smith said at the meeting prior to the budget's passage, council announced that the budget would be available for review upon request before it would be passed and that one resident, along with a newspaper reporter, did review the proposed budget in advance. 

Borough council passed a bill to increase their property taxes by a whopping 57%.

Its a trend happening far too often. Leaderships keeping their constituents in the dark about a proposed tax hike.

Cheryl Geidner, a 26 year supervisor at The Mill, a home and garden store, said that for homes worth $100,000 taxes will increase roughly from $600 to $1100.

She told 21 News reporter Leslie Huff, that city council announced their decision after a vote, without offering any data to support their decision.

However, Smith said Geidner was present at both meetings and spoke during the public comment portion of the meeting, prior to the vote to pass the budget. 

Smith said Geidner was not the resident who came in to review the budget after it was proposed. 

21 News left messages for Councilman John Shaw and the vice president and knocked on the presidents door for comment, but the attempts were unsuccessful.

People of Volant said they fear the small town of 120 people will likely put a financial strain on many, as half of the residents are over the age of 65 and on fixed incomes.

For some merchants like, Geidner the next step may be to increase the cost of goods to compensate for the increase in taxes