The Montgomery County commissioners are poised to hike taxes by nine percent when they adopt the $610.9 million 2025 budget on Dec. 19. At least one local Republican isn’t happy about it.
Montco Commissioner Tom DiBello, the only GOP member of the three-person board, noted, “We’ve seen a cumulative 31 percent tax increase over the last four years.” The nine percent hike would take the total to more than 40 percent in just five years.
“We have to be cognizant our taxpayers are being stretched to the limit with inflation and all the rising costs throughout the county, throughout the state, and country. We see those rising costs today in the county. That’s why some of our expenses are rising faster than we would like,” DiBello said.
“We also see school districts across Montgomery County that are raising taxes on average four to five percent a year. So our county residents are being hit from every angle. We have to look at every opportunity to figure out how we could minimize the tax impacts on our communities.”
According to the website smartasset.com, the property tax rate in Montgomery County is 1.62 percent, which puts it near the state average. A homeowner with a home assessed at $326,200 pays an average of $5,273 annually.
For Bucks County, the owner of a house valued at the median of $340,500 pays $5,282 in property taxes at a rate of 1.55. In Chester County, a homeowner with a home valued at the median of $369,500 pays $5,735 at a rate of 1.55 percent. In Delaware County, with a median home value of $247,900, taxes would be $5,690, and the tax rate is 1.62 percent.
Philadelphia is the least pricy, with a median home at $171,600, taxes at $1,808 and the tax rate at 1.05 percent.
Commissioner Neil Makhija (D) said the budget includes the board’s priorities, including investing in hydroelectric power through the Norristown dam and installing electric vehicle charging stations at county facilities, “which are going to be essential for us to transition to those.”
“We’re also making a film on the success of the whole home repairs program that we launched earlier this year, which gives eligible homeowners grants to address safety concerns, efficiency, and make their units more affordable. We also included an increase in our funding for SEPTA.”
The budget includes $42.3 million to fix the roads and bridges and $7 million for county trails. There is also $3.5 million for open space.
“While all this seems like a lot of money, what we’re doing is in a fiscally responsible way. We’re able to achieve our objectives by leveraging local funds to obtain state and federal money, as well. We’re also simply being smarter in the way we spend and finance money as well,” said Makhija.
He said the county refinanced bonds to save about $1 million in debt service in 2024 and 2025. But debt service is up $3.9 million for 2025.
“We also identified about $3 million in savings in this budget as a result of operational reductions, services and supplies, equipment and training and travel expenses,” said Makhija.
He said poor residents or those on fixed incomes may be able to enroll in a tax abatement program. The county is also giving tax rebates to volunteer EMS and firefighters.
“We will continue to find ways to help those who need it in terms of tax deferral and rebates,” he said.
Chair Jamila Winder (D) said it is “gratifying to me that so many people care for our homeless friends and neighbors.” While they are “always cognizant of the taxpayers, this budget and the seeds that we planted will help some of these issues make a dent. If only there were more people who would care about our homeless residents.”
David Morgan, a resident who attended the meeting, wondered whether the county could find ways to economize.
“I find it concerning that debt service is a paramount reason for the increase,” said Morgan. “That is really concerning. It’s harder to rent or buy in our county. I was disappointed to see a nine percent increase in our taxes. We have people who can barely make ends meet.”
With construction ongoing at the new $415 million Justice Center, “there’s concern about debt obligations and these big projects.”
Rick Buckman, a former Republican commissioner, was surprised to hear about the planned tax increase.
“When Republicans were in charge, we liked less government and less taxes,” said Buckman. “Right now, we have a lot more government and a lot more programs, and it’s not free. It’s nice to hand things out, but you have to pay for these programs. It falls on the rest of us to pay for it.”
Another former Republican county commissioner, Bruce L. Castor Jr., said when Democrats gained the majority they “spent down our surplus and drove up our debt when anyone could see the economic crash of 2008 was upon us.”
But Castor, and his Democratic “governing partners,” Josh Shapiro [now governor] and Leslie Richards restored fiscal soundness and that helped “propel their political careers.”
“Leslie, Josh, and I were heralded as heroes for a while, reining in government excess and taking a practical approach to governing. But once we left, people forgot why we had been heroes. The Democrat machine shifted into gear, Philly came to Norristown and, from there, out to our 62 municipalities. The Philly philosophy, the big-city America philosophy of tax and spend became the default. Raise taxes? No problem when Democrats run this show in Norristown. Like, Philly, NYC, Chicago, LA, etc.”
