Montco School Tax Increases: How Does Lower Merion Compare?

LOWER MERION TOWNSHIP, PA — Montgomery County has 23 school districts. Which one has biggest tax increase this year?

A recent analysis by the Philadelphia Inquirer, which looked at districts in Montgomery, Chester, Bucks, and Delaware counties to determine the largest tax increases, shows where residents in Chester County will be hit the hardest.

So how does the Lower Merion School District compare?

According to the analysis, residents in the district will pay an average of $165 more in 2019-20.

That's a 2.3 percent increase over last year. Over the past 10 years, LMSD residents have experienced a 37 percent increase in taxes.

Colonial School District, covering the Plymouth-Whitemarsh area, is experiencing the county's largest percent tax increase this year, the analysis says. Residents there will pay 3.9 percent more in 2019-20, which is an additional $129 for the average homeowner.

The next highest increase for 2019-20 in Montgomery County is Pottstown, which is seeing a 3.3 percent raise.

The following districts also have increases that range from 2.2 to 2.9 percent: Upper Moreland, Wissahickon, Upper Perkiomen, Norristown, Cheltenham, Spring-Ford, North Penn, Owen J. Roberts, Lower Merion, Hatboro-Horsham, Jenkintown, Upper Merion, and Upper Dublin.
Abington is the only Montgomery County school district that is not raising its taxes this year. Pottsgrove is only increasing by 0.6 percent, and Methacton is the next lowest, at 1.1 percent.

You may be wondering how your tax dollars are translating to school performance.

A new school district ranking was released last week by data compiler Niche, and Montgomery County dominated the top 50.

Lower Merion (3rd), Upper Dublin (14th), Colonial (16th), North Penn (17th), Wissahickon (19th), Spring-Ford (24th), Lower Moreland (28th), Perkiomen Valley (31st), Owen J. Roberts (39th), Jenkintown (43rd), Souderton (44th), and Abington (49th) all made the top 50. (You can read more about the methodology here.)

With reporting by Kara Seymour and Justin Heinze