After listening to resident after resident plead for relief, the Democrat-controlled Chester County Commission ignored them and passed a whopping 13.47 percent tax hike on Wednesday, joining the other Democrat-run counties in the Philly suburbs.
The residents asked commissioners to review the budget again and find places to cut. Some asked for an audit and zero-based budgeting.
“The problem here is the county can, at the stroke of a pen, just get more money,” said Pat Carnevale, a Republican area leader from East Nottingham.
“You can impose that on every citizen that’s here, myself and every citizen that’s here. Can’t do that. We have to seek other means. In other words, we have to tighten our belts, and we have to cut the fat. And that’s all I’m asking you as commissioners to consider that. I mean, the people I represent can’t afford this tax increase. I know I certainly can’t. I’m on a fixed income and I’m sure there’s quite a few people in this room that are, too.”
Chester County Finance Director Julie Bookheimer said the final budget had “increased slightly” to $730.3 million to include additional funding for SEPTA.
“The 2025 budget reflects a tax increase compared to the 2024 budget, primarily due to costs of facility improvements at the prison, as well as costs of law enforcement radios. Every 10 years, the county updates by way of replacement, the handheld radios.” In the past, money for those radios came from bonds.
“After four years of no tax increases, the tax rate represents an increase of approximately $60 per 100,000 of assessed value per year. The median assessed value of a single-family home in Chester County is just over $170,000 for a fair market value of approximately $473,000. The increase for the medium assessed value home under this rate would be approximately $104 per year,” Bookheimer said.
Minority Republican Commissioner Eric Roe, who voted against the budget, said it does not contain “wasteful” or “pork barrel” spending. But added, “I don’t think Chester County can afford this tax hike.” He suggested an 8.3 percent “across the board” spending cut and read a letter opposing the tax increase from the Chester County Chamber of Business and Industry.
Both Democratic commissioners, Chairman Josh Maxwell and Vice Chair Marian Moskowitz, voted for the take hike.
Moscowitz said she’s had sleepless nights over the tax increase. Maxwell said she was sorry, but said the county needs to increase security at the prison for $6 million. An illegal immigrant convicted of murder escaped and was on the run for two weeks in 2023.
The police radios are $10 million. And after a 12-year-old child died, they are hiring more social workers, said Maxwell.
“We need more social workers responding to those calls, and we need them to do it quickly,” said Maxwell.
Angry residents were not appeased.
“It’s not only your 13 percent increase in taxes. It’s PECO’s 20 percent increase… It’s the West Chester Borough taxes going up,” said Steve Brown. “Why is it whenever Democrats come into power, and you see this in Montgomery and Delaware [counties], all of a sudden you see huge tax increases? Have you been paying people more money? Have you been throwing money away somewhere where it doesn’t need to be thrown away? You guys need to look at this. This is ridiculous.”
An East Brandywine man who is disabled and lives with his retired mother asked whether the county could get more money from all the new construction. He also complained about utility bills, saying Aqua charges them more than $200 monthly.
A 27-year-old Caln Township man said it was hard for his friends to afford to buy homes in Chester County, and raising real estate taxes “is only going to make it harder.”
“So, in the long term, you’re actually hurting the county by increasing these taxes. So just keep that in mind, how not only affecting now, but you’re affecting the future generations.” He said people won’t be able to afford to have kids.
