DV Journal

Delaware County residents have been speaking up at county council meetings, demanding that officials explain why county policies give sanctuary to illegal immigrants.

Now, the federal Department of Homeland Security has named Delaware, Chester and Montgomery counties as sanctuary communities that attempt to hinder enforcement of immigration law and the lawful efforts of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Philadelphia is also on the list.

While the Democratic majorities who govern the three suburban communities have been open in their opposition to increased immigration enforcement and cooperation between local police and ICE, they all also deny they are sanctuary jurisdictions.

The Department of Homeland Security released a formal list late last week.

Delaware County Democrats immediately pushed back.

“The county has not received anything more formal than finding out it was included on a list published (Thursday) on a DHS website,” said Council Chair Monica Taylor, Ph.D. “It’s important to note that there is no agreed-upon definition of a ‘sanctuary’ county or municipality, and the county has never formally declared itself to be one. This council—and the whole of Delaware County’s government—exists for one reason: to serve every single resident who calls Delaware County home. We are not an arm of the federal or state government and will not be bullied or harassed away from our core mission of directly serving our residents.”

County officials also claimed they comply with all federal laws and are unaware of any threatened grants or contracts. They also say they are “in compliance with all terms of grants and contracts in which we are a party.”

However, in February, Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer (D), now running for Common Pleas judge, said that he would not help ICE enforce the law regarding “peaceful” illegal immigrants.

“After the concerned citizens of Delaware County were gaslit for over a year by the Delaware County Council about the sanctuary status of Delco, it is great to see that we were proven correct by our federal government. Hindsight is always 2020, and this shows our council lacks any integrity,” said Charlie Alexander, one of the most outspoken residents.

President Donald Trump was elected, in part, on a promise to deport the upwards of 10 million illegal immigrants who flooded into the country while former President Joe Biden was in office.

DHS noted, “These municipalities are deliberately and shamefully obstructing the enforcement of federal immigration laws, endangering American communities. Sanctuary cities protect dangerous criminal aliens from facing consequences and put law enforcement in peril.”

“These sanctuary city politicians are endangering Americans and our law enforcement in order to protect violent criminal illegal aliens,” said DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. “We are exposing these sanctuary politicians who harbor criminal illegal aliens and defy federal law. President Trump and I will always put the safety of the American people first. Sanctuary politicians are on notice: comply with federal law.”

Local supporters of immigration law enforcement greeted the news with praise.

Joy Schwartz, previously a Republican council candidate, said, “We are all very aware that the tsunami of illegal migrants that entered our county during the Biden years has overwhelmed and depleted our resources in healthcare, education, and law enforcement. Don’t even get me started on the added tax burden!” Delaware County Council increased taxes by 23 percent for 2025.

Haverford resident Sharon Devaney said an illegal immigrant “t-boned” her car in 2017.

“I have had four surgeries so far, and no justice because Delco is a sanctuary,” said Devaney. “I am permanently handicapped.”

Once she started speaking out about the crash, her identity was “hacked,” and “my life was destroyed.” County council members refused to believe her, even though she gave them documents detailing the accident. The driver who rammed her car had no license, insurance or green card, she said.

“The cops were horrified,” said Devaney. “They said they couldn’t call ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) because it was a sanctuary.”

An April report by the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) found the collar counties and Philadelphia were in violation by not holding detainees in their jails for ICE to pick up. Instead, immigration officers must go out into communities to detain them, which places the officers and innocent bystanders in jeopardy.

Megan Alt, a spokesperson for Montgomery County, did not respond to a request for comment Friday. However, Commissioners Chair Neil Makhija posted to X, “Montgomery County was named on the administration’s target list today. Thankfully, the Constitution protects our right to be a welcoming, safe community—and we’ll keep investing in mental health, housing, and real public safety.”

Philadelphia is not a sanctuary city. We are a welcoming city,” said city Solicitor Renee Garcia. “We are aware that the Department of Homeland Security has published a list of jurisdictions across the country, including Philadelphia and other cities and counties in Pennsylvania. Philadelphia has not received any formal notification from DHS. We will review any communications carefully.”

Under the previous mayor, Jim Kenney (D), Philadelphia was openly a sanctuary city. Kenney famously danced in 2018 after a judge upheld the city’s sanctuary city status.

“Chester County is surprised that it has been designated by the Department of Homeland Security as a sanctuary county and questions how its policy differs from other Pennsylvania counties not on the list,” said spokeswoman Rebecca Brain. “The county has never approved a sanctuary policy, nor taken any action to identify as a sanctuary county and has no intention to do so.

“Chester County does nothing to impede or prevent federal law enforcement authorities from performing their job duties, and the county maintains a cooperative interaction with ICE officials in these matters. As county officials address issues that relate to immigration, they will adhere to important core principles: fairness to Chester County residents, due process for all, and the dignity and respect every person deserves.”

Bucks County is the only Delaware Valley county not on the DHS list.

That may be because Sheriff Fred Harran signed an agreement to cooperate with ICE under its 287 (g) program. However, the Democratic majority commissioners recently voted to rescind that agreement.

Crozer Health, the largest health system in Delaware County, is shutting down.

FTI Consulting, which had been managing the finances of Crozer parent company Prospect Medical Holdings, announced the decision Monday.

“As Court appointed receiver, we are disappointed an alternative resolution and sale could not be reached,” said an FTI spokesperson in a statement.

Prospect Chief Restructuring Officer Paul Rundell released a statement claiming the group didn’t want Chester Crozer and Taylor hospitals to shut down.

“Today, Prospect Medical Holdings made the extremely difficult decision to begin winding down operations across our Crozer Health facilities. The ambulatory surgery and imaging centers at Brinton Lake, Broomall, Haverford, and Media will remain open.

“PMH recognizes the impact this action will have on patients as well as team members. We’ve worked tirelessly with the Pennsylvania attorney general and other parties to do everything possible to prevent this outcome. Unfortunately, we were unable to reach a viable alternative. At this time, the focus at Crozer Health remains on seamlessly transitioning patients to other health facilities so that they can continue to receive the critical, uninterrupted care they require, and to support Crozer Health team members as they seek to identify other employment opportunities.”

The closure announcement ends months of waiting and negotiations on the future of the hospitals.

“Along with the Governor’s Office and other state and local leaders, we worked tirelessly to avoid this outcome,” said Brett Hambright, a Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General spokesperson.

Prospect declared bankruptcy in January. Attorneys said the Delaware Valley facilities needed to close because they cost too much to operate.

At times, it appeared a savior for the hospitals would appear, but no buyer emerged. Attorneys for FTI Consulting, Prospect’s debtors, Delaware County, and the Attorney General’s Office told a federal bankruptcy judge several times last month that things were looking up.

Potential buyers included a consortium featuring Delaware County and Penn Medicine as members.

Chester Crozer and Taylor hospitals received $46 million in total short-term funding from Pennsylvania and Delaware County taxpayers, plus the Foundation of Delaware County, to stay open in March.

Discussions took a turn for the worse in early April when Prospect’s debtors said the hospitals were running out of money. The debtors blamed the hospital system’s payroll schedule.

Penn Medicine and Delaware County chipped in an extra $6 million to keep the facilities open another six to 10 days on April 10.

Now that money has run out, and so has time for the hospitals.

“The heroic Crozer staff … deserved a better outcome,” said Hambright. “Unfortunately, despite the best efforts of our office, that resolution proved out of reach.”

The Attorney General’s Office solely blamed Prospect’s owners, Leonard Green & Partners, for the closure. The private equity firm was accused of prioritizing “their own wealth over the well-being of a community.”

Democrats in the Delaware County legislative delegation, led by Swarthmore state Sen. Tim Kearney and Speaker of the House Joanna McClinton, called the closure of the Crozer Health System “a devastating and disgraceful blow to our communities.” They blamed the shutdown on capitalism, “for-profit” healthcare, and proposed federal spending cuts on Medicaid and Medicare that have not been enacted.

“Private equity’s decimation of Crozer is an abomination – the corporate abuse that our hospitals went through should be criminally illegal,” they wrote, adding:

“As Crozer demonstrates, privatization and for-profit systems are the problem, not the solution. We need bold action for the public interest.”

Authorities are investigating the links between the killing of a Delaware County couple and the Jan. 20 shooting of a Border Patrol agent in northern Vermont.

The Pennsylvania State Police said the same gun used in the murder of federal agent David “Chris” Maland had been used in the Dec. 31, 2022, murder of Rita and Richard Zajko. The couple was killed inside their Chester Heights residence. The state police Media Criminal Investigation Unit has been investigating it since.  No arrests have been made.

Multiple news reports have named Michelle Jaqueline Zajko, the transgender nonbinary adult child of the dead couple, as a “person of interest,” though no arrests have been made. However, an agency spokesman told DVJournal the ATF “would not comment on or discuss the existence of any ongoing investigations.”

The Albany, N.Y. Times Union reported a police bulletin reported Zajko was to be considered armed and dangerous and adheres to an “anti-law enforcement ideology.”

And according to reporting by investigative journalist Andy Ngo at the New York Post, Zajko is closely linked to the same radical leftist transgender militant cult as the suspects in the shooting at the Vermont-Canadian border.

Seattle resident  Teresa “Milo” Consuelo Youngblut,21, faces charges in the agent’s death and is in federal custody. She is charged with one count of using a deadly weapon while assaulting a U.S. Border Patrol agent and one count of using and discharging a firearm during and in relation to that assault. She was traveling with Felix “Ophelia” Bauckholt, a German national, near the Canadian border when the Border Patrol stopped their vehicle.

Bauckholt died in a subsequent gun battle and Youngblut was injured.

The NY Post report published Thursday revealed Youngblut and Bauckholt were activists “connected to a mysterious cult of transgender ‘geniuses’ who follow a trans leader named Jack LaSota, also known by the alias ‘Ziz.'”

LaSota is a biological male who identifies as a woman, the NYPost reported, with a warrant for an arrest in Delaware County after skipping out on court hearings on an open criminal case. Zajko reportedly has ties to LaSota’s group.

Newly-sworn-in Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem made a surprise visit Thursday to the town where Maland was killed, a local Vermont news outlet reported.

The Pennsylvania State Police is requesting anyone with information pertaining to these investigations to contact PSP Tips at 1-800-4PA-TIPS (8477) or online. Individuals can also contact their local Pennsylvania State Police station, Criminal Investigation Unit.

A “person of interest” in a Delaware County double-homicide is linked the the Jan. 20 shooting death of a federal agent in Vermont near the Canadian border.

A shootout occurred when the Customs and Border Control agent, David “Chris” Maland, 44, stopped a car with suspects Teresa Youngblut, 21, of Seattle and a German national, Felix Baukholt.

Baukholt, who was in the U.S. on an expired visa, was killed during the encounter. Youngblut was injured.

Youngblut is charged with one count of using a deadly weapon while assaulting Maland and discharging a firearm during and in relation to that assault, authorities said.

According to the Department of Justice (DOJ), Youngblut and Baukholt had been on authorities’ radar after a motel clerk in Lyndonville, Vt. reached out to federal agents the previous Tuesday when the couple checked in, reportedly armed and wearing black tactical gear. Investigators also spotted Baukholt and Youngblut walking in public in downtown Newport wearing the same gear and openly carrying firearms.

Vermont is an open-carry state. Federal investigators reported trying to interact with the couple but said they were not interested in talking and indicated they were in the region shopping for real estate.

It’s still unclear from the DOJ affidavit who was directly responsible for the shooting death of Maland.

“During the stop, Youngblut fired her handgun without warning toward at least one of the Border Patrol Agents while outside the vehicle,” the affidavit states. “Her German companion also tried to draw a firearm, and at least one Border Patrol Agent fired his service weapon. The exchange of gunfire resulted in Border Patrol Agent David Maland sustaining fatal injuries. Youngblut and her companion were also shot. The German man was pronounced dead at the scene, and Youngblut was taken to the hospital for medical care.”

The affidavit noted agents found the following items inside Youngblut’s Toyota: A ballistic helmet; night-vision goggles, one tactical belt complete with a holster; one magazine loaded with cartridges, two full-face breathing respirators, 48 rounds of .380-caliber, hollow-point bullets, one package of shooting range targets — including some already used — two handheld two-way radios, roughly a dozen electronic devices  and multiple electronic storage devices, documents containing identification, utility, lease, travel, and lodging information related to several states, and “an apparent journal” found with Youngblut’s identification papers.

According to court filings that were presented to a judge Monday by Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Lasher, a reason to detain Youngblut was her “associations with other individuals suspected of violent acts.”

Lasher wrote the person who bought the firearms Youngblut and Buackholt had at the time of the Vermont shooting was “a person of interest” in a double-homicide in Delaware County. And Buckholt flew to the U.S. just hours before that homicide. The person detained in the Delaware County homicides is also a person of interest in a homicide investigation in Vallejo, Calif., Lasher said.

Lasher did not name the person of interest in his filing.

The Delaware County District Attorney’s Office, the Philadelphia FBI Office, and the Pennsylvania State Police did not respond to DV Journal’s attempts to ascertain the name of the person of interest referred to in the Youngblut case.

Also, acting U.S. Attorney Michael P. Drescher has asked the court to seal the Youngblut case files.

He asserted Youngblut “poses a current and substantial danger to the community.”

Investigative journalist Andy Ngo reports both Youngblut and Baukholt were militant “trans activists.”

(This article first appeared in Broad + Liberty)

Delaware County says it has no documents — not a single email, memo, spreadsheet, text, or voicemail — that could shed light on how $7.6 million dollars magically showed up in the county’s second draft of the 2025 budget, thereby giving the county more breathing room on the massive tax increase it was proposing for the upcoming year.

That $7.6 million infusion into a single spending line is important because it represents most of the difference between the county’s first budget draft proposing a 28 percent tax increase, and the subsequent draft that lowered the proposed tax increase to 23 percent. In other words, the tax decrease between the two versions couldn’t have happened without the additional $7.6 million.

But where that money came from has never been described or explained.

Broad + Liberty reported on Dec. 9 that the county declined to answer questions about the nature of the money, namely, if it already belonged to some earmarked pot of money.

After that request for comment was ignored, Broad + Liberty then filed a Right to Know Law request asking for a copy of any document that would delineate “the source of the additional [$7.6 million]…in the ‘transfers’ category.” The request also asked for any text messages between current council members about the money, as well as any voicemails. But the county says there’s nothing.

If the county borrowed from Peter to pay Paul, that money would have to be replaced at some point, creating the possibility that the county has more tax hikes in its future unless it finds a way to create $7.6 million in savings or budget cuts.

In late November, days before the county would hold its first open meetings about the budget, Broad + Liberty went to county offices to get copies of the first draft. A line of the budget marked “transfers” only showed $510,000 being counted as revenue for 2025.

That same budget iteration required a 28 percent tax increase, which Broad + Liberty immediately reported on.

Days later, however, the county began its budget hearings before the public, and the second draft was put into play.

That second draft had the smaller tax increase thanks to the “transfers” line swelling from $510,000 to $8.2 million — a difference of $7.6 million.

The second draft also showed the county using $2.6 million more in American Rescue Plan Act (ARP) funds, money from the federal government’s Covid response meant to help local governments survive any decrease in revenues due to the pandemic. But that revenue is one-time only, meaning it would still have to be replaced in future years.

County Council, all Democrats, ultimately passed the second draft on a 4-1 vote. Councilman Richard Womack, who is facing re-election this year, was the lone dissenter.

If the county does, in fact, need to shore up the $7.6 million with new revenue, that still may not be the full extent of the problem. The 2025 budget also used $12.9 million in ARP funds and $14 million from the “fund balance” — the county’s rainy day fund. Added together, the county may still need to find $34 million in new revenue for the 2026 budget if spending isn’t decreased.

Democrats in the county began campaigning in the latter half of the 2010s on a platform with two main planks: the creation of a county-level health department, and deprivatizing the county’s prison.

After winning council seats in 2017 and later taking a majority on the council in 2020, they made good on the promises. With both of those goals accomplished, citizens who objected to the proposed tax increase for 2025 argued the council had gone too far.

“Springfield Township resident Mark McGann said health services in the county ‘have been crumbling’ since the health department’s creation,” the Delaware Valley Journal reported. “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,” the DVJ report continued.

“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.

The county argued taxes had been held low for too long, and that inflationary pressures also could not be ignored. In a comment provided to Broad + Liberty for an earlier article on the budget before it was passed, a county spokesperson said, “We recognize our residents are facing the same inflationary pressures that we are facing, but additional revenue is in our proposed 2025 budget that may be necessary in order for us to continue modernizing Delaware County’s government, repairing county infrastructure, and delivering the quality services that our residents deserve and expect.”

County Executive Director Barbara O’Malley also said the government had implemented numerous cost-saving measures under Democratic control, like pension reform, making gradual reductions in the number of employees, and technological upgrades, like moving the county’s phone system to a new voice-over-internet protocol which O’Malley said will save $1 million a year.

At the same time, it’s indisputable that some projects, like deprivatizing the prison, have been far more costly than council projected.

In 2021, the council considered three future scenarios for the prison budget assuming it took back management of the George W. Hill Correctional Facility after it had been privately run for almost three decades.

The highest of those assumptions had a $49.9 million price tag, while the lowest scenario cost $43.1 million.

The council’s latest budget shows the prison’s annual budget going from $53.4 million in 2023, up to $56.6 million in ‘24, finally up to $59.3 million in 2025.

(From a press release)

The Springfield Township Board of Commissioners has approved the municipality’s 2025 budget which holds the line on spending and implements no municipal property tax increases. Reflecting an ongoing commitment to fiscal responsibility, the township budget for 2025 remains at $22.645 million – the same level as 2024.  The millage rate also remains at 3.92 mills, the same level as 2024.

“The Board of Commissioners recognizes that many local residents are facing financial challenges at this time, with families and individuals making difficult decisions to manage their own household budget,” said Jeff Rudolph, president of the board. “This budget represents a concerted effort to maintain essential municipal services, infrastructure improvements, and operations while holding the line on new spending. We entered our annual budget process with a clear goal of not increasing property taxes and I’m pleased that we were able to accomplish that.”

Approximately $14.8 million of the township’s $22.65 million budget comes from tax collections. The reminder of the budget is funded through other revenue receipts. The largest portion of the budget is allocated to the township police department, which is funded at $6.82 million. Another major element of the budget includes trash collection, which is funded at $2.91 million. While many municipalities in Delaware County require residents to contract with private waste disposal and recycling companies at an additional charge, Springfield Township continues to provide these functions as a government service.

One of the major capital projects in 2025 will be the much-needed renovation of the township’s municipal and police building. As part of the renovation project, the Springfield Township Police Department will temporarily relocate its operations to 601 Baltimore Pike, Springfield in a building that was formerly occupied by a Jenny Craig Weight Loss Center (adjacent to Party City). That relocation is expected to occur on or about January 24th.  As always, in case of an emergency, residents are urged to dial 911.

In December, the township’s administrative offices were temporarily relocated to Suite 201 at Springfield Square (1001 Baltimore Pike) to accommodate renovations and restoration of the existing township building, including asbestos removal. The asbestos removal process began on Monday, January 13th. During the temporary relocation, the phone number and mailing for the township administration remain unchanged: (610) 544-1300 and 50 Powell Road, Springfield, PA 19064.

Unfortunately, residents will see some slight fee increases due to increased rates from external entities that provide sanitary sewer service and municipal solid waste disposal to Springfield Township residents and businesses. To be clear, these are not rate increases implemented by the township, but by outside agencies and they are being “passed on” to consumers.

Costs paid by the township on behalf of residents to the Delaware County Solid Waste Authority have increased significantly, prompting an increase in the annual refuse fee from $300 to $330 per household.  Similarly, the four sewer authorities that serve the township have also increased their rates. As a result, the sanitary sewer fee will rise 0.75 cents per 1,000 gallons per household. Again, these increases are essentially pass throughs.

(This article first appeared in Broad + Liberty)

A prison employee at the Delaware County prison is currently under investigation for smuggling contraband into the facility, but the same employee also served time in the county in the 1990s for felony charges for the manufacture or possession of controlled substances.

When asked about the incident, the county says it now has a “second chance” policy where it will hire felons to work at the George W. Hill Correctional Facility provided the person’s criminal behavior is far enough in the past.

Broad + Liberty obtained a copy of a “serious incident report” showing that prison officials stopped Roger Prattis “based on intelligence suggesting he was introducing contraband into the facility.”

The incident report notes that investigators claim to have found a “Ziplock bag containing loose cigarettes,” and a search of Prattis’s car yielded other items that investigators are still researching. For example, the report said it found a “heavily stained sheet of paper found in a folder the employee brought into the facility[.]” Drugs can sometimes be smuggled into a prison by soaking the substance into paper where it can later be smoked or ingested orally.

A court document indicates law enforcement officials charged Prattis for the possession or manufacture of drugs in 1993. He entered a guilty plea and was sentenced in January of 1994 to a minimum of three months or a maximum of 23 months.

The county will soon be marking the third anniversary of the government taking back management of the GWHCF after the prison was run by private contractors for almost three decades.

In a statement from a spokesperson, the county said it is open to hiring persons with criminal records, even when that person is applying to work at the prison.

“Mr. Prattis, who was hired as a laundry technician on July 25, 2024, disclosed his prior conviction from the 1990s during our comprehensive hiring process. His employment was granted based on a thorough evaluation of his rehabilitation and the absence of continued criminal behavior over the last three decades,” the spokesperson said. “Delaware County does not have a policy of categorically excluding individuals with past felony convictions from employment because we believe in rehabilitation and providing second chances, which aligns with our broader commitment to support reintegration of formerly incarcerated individuals into the community.

“The incident on December 19, 2024, in which contraband was allegedly introduced into GWH, is currently under rigorous investigation. We take such incidents seriously and are dedicated to maintaining the security and safety of all facilities under our jurisdiction. Mr. Prattis’s hiring reflects our belief that individuals can positively transform their lives and contribute to society if given the opportunity.

“As we move forward, Delaware County will continue to assess and refine our employment practices to ensure they are both fair and effective in fostering a safe and rehabilitative environment. This commitment includes ongoing training for all staff to uphold our policies and procedures. We remain dedicated to transparency and accountability in all aspects of our operations and will provide updates on the matter as they become available.

“We thank you for bringing this matter to our attention and assure you that we are taking every step necessary to address it appropriately,” the spokesperson concluded.

It’s not currently clear whether the last prison operator before the county — in this case, the GEO group — had any policy about hiring persons with criminal backgrounds.

The investigation of a prison employee who is also a felon is yet another attention grabbing incident since the county took over management of the facility in March of 2022.

Last January, two other employees were arrested for allegedly smuggling fentanyl into the prison. On two different occasions since the government-management takeover, the prison allowed the wrong person to be released.

More serious incidents also have not only shaken the prison but also threaten to force the county into serious liability payouts.

For example, the prison is facing a lawsuit by the estate of a man who is widely believed to have been murdered by his cellmate just weeks after the county took over the facility. In another case, the mother of an inmate who took his own life in June of 2022 is also suing the county.

Meanwhile, the prison budget has grown dramatically since the county takeover.

In the last complete year in which a private operator ran the facility, the county’s outlays for the prison were $47.3 million. In the upcoming 2025 budget, the county plans to spend $59.3 million running the facility, according to the 2025 proposed budget.

Just before voting for a 23 percent property tax hike, Democrat Delaware County Councilwoman Christine Reuther advocated for a pay raise.

“I am on a fixed income. My income has not gone up in the five years I’ve been on council,” she said at a recent Council meeting.

Public records show that council members earn approximately $51,000 per year for what is considered a part-time position.

Reuther’s council salary isn’t her sole source of income. Her official county biography said she operates a “small business consulting practice” that serves individuals, businesses, non-profits, and partnerships.

Her husband is a pediatric surgeon and a frequent presenter for American Medical Seminars.

Reuther argued that’s going to change next year because her husband plans to retire. “He’s going to be on a fixed income.”

Their six bedroom house featuring a “large master bedroom with a skylight” is valued at an estimated $784,000 to $913,670.

An apoplectic Wallace Nunn told DVJournal that Reuther’s comments went beyond the pale. “How dare you equate your privileged situation to someone living on Social Security or [who] is trying desperately to hang onto their row home while you live in your $900,000 [home].”

But Reuther insisted she’s still in a challenging financial spot.

“[T]he one thing I get is I get health care benefits as an employee of the county, and I’m now paying contributing towards those benefits, which my previous council members didn’t have to do because they wouldn’t vote to do that,” she said.

Former Delaware County Council Chair Andy Reilly found Reuther’s comments ridiculous.

“There hasn’t been a pay raise for 40 years. She knew what she was getting into,” he told DVJournal.

Reilly said previous Republican-led councils left governance to the executive director because the council was supposed to be part-time and term-limited.

“I guess this is a set up to try to raise Council salaries, which wouldn’t surprise me,” he commented.

Delaware County has a $27 million structural deficit. Although County Executive Director Barbara O’Malley attributed the deficit to inflation and a lack of tax increases, records indicate that county spending has increased by $75 million since 2020.

It highlights the role federal COVID relief money played into the expansion of government in Pennsylvania. The county’s 2021 budget was $246.5 million. The county passed a $321.4 million budget last week.

Similarly, the state of Pennsylvania’s budget grew from $39.8 billion in 2021 to $47.6 billion this year. The Pennsylvania Independent Fiscal Office warned last month the state’s general fund will be emptied next year and the Rainy Day Fund empty in Fiscal Year 2026-2027.

That caused the Commonwealth Foundation to warn tax hikes of several billion dollars were in the Keystone State’s future due to the reckless spending.

As for Reuther, she said no one should feel sorry for her. “I’m just saying I’m in the same position that a lot of the people are, that folks have been writing me about.”

Nunn agreed with Reuther on not feeling sorry for her. “These are the words of somebody that’s desperate because they don’t even begin to reflex reality. … You have no shame,” he said.

(This article first appeared in Broad + Liberty)

Delaware County could have saved $2.1 million dollars when it issued bonds this summer but chose not to, preferring instead to go with private entities as opposed to a regional government-associated entity set up for the sole purpose of saving governments money on loans.

That’s according to a loan analysis document from the June meeting of the Delaware Valley Regional Finance Authority, or DVRFA.

The DVRFA was created by Philadelphia’s four suburban counties in 1985 with the specific aim of providing low-cost loans, like bond issuances, for any kind of government in that geographic area, whether it be school district, municipality, or county. In essence, the DVRFA decided to pool money from the counties and lend from it to local governments directly, issuing its own debt to save costs.

When Delaware County decided this year to issue bonds through private lenders, it could have borrowed from the DVRFA but decided to take a more costly route, the DVRFA analysis concludes. After accounting for all items associated with the bond offering like capitalized interest, underwriting fees, and “other issuance costs,” Delaware County “paid $2,124,851 more debt service than a comparable [DVRFA] Loan,” the analysis concludes.

The otherwise sleepy and staid world of bond issuances takes a totally new life at present, as Delaware County has recently acknowledged it is struggling with a significant structural deficit, has an alarmingly low “rainy day fund,” and as a consequence is likely to approve a 23.8 percent tax increase on citizens for 2025.

The county is standing by its decision, but did not necessarily dispute the DVRFA’s analysis either.

“We are committed to being responsible stewards of taxpayer dollars, and financial markets are extremely complicated,” a county spokesperson told Broad + Liberty. “We consulted with leading experts in public finance and municipal bonds and determined, with their advice, that seeking funding on the open market was the most prudent course of action.”

The county has shown, however, an affinity for the DVRFA. According to the same June document, Delaware County is the government with the largest amount of outstanding loans with the DVRFA.

Delaware County’s representative on the DVRFA board is David Landau, who, as secretary, signed the minutes of the June document at issue in this report. Broad + Liberty also reached out to Landau to see if he could give deeper insight into the choice, but that request for comment was not returned.

The analysis also notes that law firm Ballard Spahr acted as the “bond counsel.”

Ballard Spahr has political ties to the current council. According to Councilwoman Christine Reuther’s LinkedIn resume, she worked for the firm for about five years ending in 1993. In a more recent show of those close connections, however, Ballard held a fundraiser for Reuther in 2019, according to a page from Reuther’s campaign website. Although the advertisement for the fundraiser on the website has since been taken down, it was saved through the Internet Archive, a nonprofit that archives billions of webpages daily to create a historical archive.

The firm’s political committee gave $2,000 to Council Chair Monica Taylor’s re-election in 2023.

As Broad + Liberty reported in July, the county’s spending on outside, third-party counsel has skyrocketed since Democrats took control of the council after the 2019 elections. In that last year of Republican control, spending on third-party attorneys or law firms was about $400,000. In 2023, that figure had ballooned to $4.5 million — the highest spending of any of the collar counties.

Ballard Spahr has been the biggest recipient of that new spending. In 2023, it billed the county $582,780.

The county did not provide a response for a question seeking the amount of Ballard’s fees for its work as bond counsel.

When Broad + Liberty does an analysis of third-party attorney spending, it begins by filing a Right to Know Law request seeking documents showing any spending that fits that description. It’s not clear, however, if fees from acting as bond counsel would be included in those kinds of documents because the payment is folded into the overall cost of the bonds, much like a real estate agent or title company is paid out of closing costs and not from the buyer’s personal checking account.

While there’s no explicit evidence of any kind of quid pro quo between Ballard Spahr and the council, Democrats previously assailed Republicans for exactly these kinds of relationships.

“I’ve come to conclude a big part of the problem is that Delco citizens pay a corruption tax,” said Democratic former councilman Brian Zidek, in 2019. He pointed out what he thought was “instance after instance of no-bid contracts being granted to Republican Party insiders.”

In 2019, the Philadelphia Tribune reported on the Democrats running for council pledging to restore transparency, “with Schaeffer and fellow Democratic candidates Monica Taylor and Christine Reuther calling for an end to ‘sweetheart deals’ and patronage.”

“[Delaware County] was always a place where you had to know a guy to get something done,” Reuther said at the time. “We’re running to change that.”

Council is expected to vote Wednesday night on the proposed 2025 budget which includes the 23 percent tax increase. Enough council members have already signaled their intention to vote for the budget to reasonably expect that it will pass.

(Editor’s Note: Delaware County Council did pass the 2025 budget Wednesday evening, raising taxes 23 percent.)

The cost of living in Delaware County is out of control and one of the main contributors is local governments raising taxes, from school boards to Delaware County Council itself. Just this past Wednesday, Delaware County Council proposed a 23.8 percent property tax increase that would be used to pay for increased spending and grow the county’s financial deficit from $54 million to $76 million. Hundreds of residents attended the meeting, including myself, calling on the council not to raise taxes by such a high amount.

The county council says there hasn’t been a tax increase in 12 years, and they blame the previously all-Republican council’s not raising revenue for why there is a dramatic increase in taxes now. However, there is more to this story. The current Delaware County Council is spending far more than previous councils spent.  The addition of a Health Department, the de-privatization of George H. Hill Correctional Facility, the purchasing of additional land, and increasing county staff salaries have all contributed to increased spending in the county.

The county’s taxes didn’t go up immediately when this increase in spending began, however. This is because the county council received $110,083,961 in ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funds in 2022 and has plugged the holes of its growing deficit with these funds to hold off tax increases, until last year when it raised taxes by 5 percent. They are proposing to use the dwindling ARPA funds in the 2025 budget to pay for the health department again this year and are using additional rainy-day funds to fill gaps in the overall budget. Also, when the council obtains grants to purchase or enact various items or programs, it is using one-time or limited funding sources that eventually run out. This means that without the ARPA or grant funding, this proposed tax increase could be even higher than 23.8 percent.

When addressing the county council in last Wednesday’s meeting, I gave the council plenty of examples of ways they could, in fact, cut some of their spending to encourage them to lower their tax increase. Some of these examples included ending “free yoga” (nothing is free to taxpayers), shrinking their electric vehicle fleet, not spending $4.1 million in outside legal fees, and putting off some of their capital project spending, which is $120,926,840, up from $74,852,754, an increase of 61.6 percent.

Also, the Delaware County Council has undertaken a plan to buy up land for open space use and increase the number of trails it has across the county. I am an advocate for open space and green space in our communities. However, the annexation of land has put an increased burden on taxpayers and the county’s budget. In the past few years, the county has used eminent domain or settled litigation to acquire land in Media Borough for Glen Providence Park, in Marple Township for ‘Delco Woods,’ and more. This has amounted to millions more in taxpayer dollars being spent and requiring more for taxpayers to have to pay in the long run for the projects the council wants to do with these properties.

Whether you are a renter, business owner, or homeowner in Delaware County, we all should be concerned with the increased spending in Delaware County. Regardless of the justification, the council is irresponsibly creating a deeper deficit and has run out of options other than massive tax hikes to maintain their spending increases. This upcoming Wednesday, Dec. 11, the county council will convene to vote on this proposed budget.

Instead, Delaware County Council needs to make cuts in its budget to reduce the blow of this tax increase and prevent further increases in the future for struggling county residents.