The Delaware County Council approved a 23 percent property tax hike on Wednesday, casting a 4-1 vote in favor of higher taxes while ignoring calls to cut spending from angry residents.
“We don’t make decisions based on the loudest voice in the room,” said Councilman Kevin M. Madden.
The Democrat-run council approved a 5 percent property tax hike last year. The new increase would add an average of $185 to tax bills for homes valued at $255,108.
Council Vice Chair Richard Womack was the lone dissenting vote.
Earlier this month, Executive Director Barbara O’Malley said the latest tax increase was necessary due to a structural deficit of at least $27 million. “[H]ealthcare costs, food costs, energy costs, they impact the county just as they impact any other resident.”
But budget documents showed the county increased spending 30 percent through the use of federal COVID money. The council passed a $246.5 million budget in 2021. This year’s budget was $321.4 million.
Meanwhile, property tax collections during the same period averaged $176.1 million per year.
O’Malley acknowledged the county’s reliance on one-time funding factored into this year’s fiscal challenges.
“It was eventually going to end anyway, and we have to balance our budget year after year,” she said Dec. 4.
The county initially received more than $100 million from the federal government in 2020. Another $100 million cash infusion arrived the next year as part of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).
The council spent the money mostly on the new Delaware County Health Department and de-privatization of the George W. Hill Correctional Facility. Despite promises the projects would save money, they are expected to cost a combined $77 million in this year’s budget.
On Wednesday, residents pleaded with council members to slow down the spending splurge.
Springfield Township resident Mark McGann said health services in the county “have been crumbling” since the health department’s creation. He pointed to recent hospital closures and couldn’t understand why they were happening.
“You have to make hard decisions sometimes … You’re spending too easily,” McGann said.
Nick Weston of Wallingford argued the council is using the budget crisis to play hero at the expense of taxpayers. What the council should do, he said, was examine whether the programs were worth it.
“We do not need all this stuff. Instead, we’d rather keep the money and not have this wide swath of county programs,” he said.
Other residents hoped the council would compromise with a smaller tax hike while reappropriating funds elsewhere.
One 32-year-old resident said he was considering leaving Delaware County because he was disappointed by the tax increase. “I feel bad for the elderly who paid their fair share. I feel bad for the younger generation who just want to start a family.”
But council members stood by their decision to raise taxes.
Councilwoman Elaine Paul Schaefer argued the money would make sure the government remained operational. “We have got to increase our revenue. We have the obligation to provide for a government that can provide the services that we are required to provide,” she said.
Schaefer dismissed the idea of a compromise and said any lower tax rate “is splitting hairs.”
Madden portrayed the increase as not that big of a deal. He said county property taxes make up 10 percent of overall taxes. “You’re really talking about 2.3 percent (of a hike).”
He also suggested the county couldn’t cut wages by 20 percent and expect workers to remain. “It just doesn’t work,” Madden argued.
Former Delaware County Council Chair Andy Reilly disputed Madden’s claim that a wage cut was necessary to reduce spending.
“They can do a reduction in staff without even firing people because there’s always floating vacancies in the county budget,” he told DVJournal.
Reilly, who serves as National Committeeman for the Pennsylvania Republican Party, called Madden’s opinion about higher property taxes a ‘let them eat cake’ response.
“He’s out of touch. He’s a wealthy young man who is not worried about paying taxes, but for the common citizen … it’s a significant increase,” he said.
