Taxes up in DelCo for 2024

Posted by Press Release on December 15, 2023

Delaware County Council unanimously approved the County’s FY 2024 budget at the Dec. 13 public meeting. Next year’s budget represents the county’s investment in the community it serves including investments in services to residents, county infrastructure, public safety, and the county team who work to serve residents each day. It also reflects the reality of running a County in the wake of spiking inflation, addressing decades of underinvesting and deferred maintenance, and acknowledging the conclusion of access to federal COVID-19 relief funds.

The $358M operating budget increases the County’s current millage rate from 2.999 to 3.149. The increase equates to residents paying $38.19 more per year in County property taxes for a median home valued at $254, 683, for a total County real estate tax bill of $801.98.

The FY 2024 budget once again builds on the council’s commitment to significantly improve how Delaware County government works, how it provides services equitably, and how council and the County team can work to make Delaware County a place where people want to live, operate a business, and visit.

Among the investments and challenges in the FY 2024 year’s budget are:

Addressing critical deferred maintenance as determined by the first countywide assessment of the status of county buildings and infrastructure;
Investing in the pay and benefits packages to attract and retain qualified and talented employees in a highly competitive job market;
Investing in our natural resources, parks, trails, and open space;
Addressing ongoing and rising inflation. The U.S. Department of Labor reported the Consumer Price Index, which measures the cost of basic items, increased 22 percent since 2014 which was the last County tax increase.

Council also noted that when the current majority was elected in November 2019, its predecessors decreased taxes, leaving the incoming Council with less revenue. The increase in the FY 2024 budget brings the county’s budget back to where it would have been if there had not been a decrease.

The adopted FY 2024 Budget can be found here: delcopa.gov/budget