2 more Pennsylvania counties outside Philadelphia vote to raise property taxes
Montgomery County is now the latest suburban county near Philadelphia to vote to raise property taxes.
In a 2-1 vote, the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners approved a 9% property tax hike, effective Jan. 1, 2025. The vote came during a meeting on Thursday when commissioners adopted their budget.
In recent weeks, Chester County voted to property taxes by 13% and Delaware County voted to raise property taxes by 23%.
Some homeowners, like David Morgan from Ambler, attended the Montgomery County meeting in person to speak out against the proposal.
"As a taxpayer, I have a heart for other people trying to make ends meet today between schools tax raising and other things," Morgan said.
Commissioners said they had no choice but to approve the tax hike to cover a $16 million deficit for next year. They said there are rising costs due to inflation.
"I take fiduciary responsibility really serious," Jamila H. Winder, chair of the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners, said. "There's no luxury spending that's happening here in Montgomery County."
There are 259,577 single-family homes in Montgomery County, according to the county's budget proposal. The average homeowner will pay an extra $79 per year, per officials.
Still, homeowner Latisha Bazemore from Norristown said she will have to cut back.
"With everybody struggling to pay their bills to put food in their house, and now here's another bill on top of that they have to come up with," Bazemore said.