$139 Tax Increase Proposed In 2024 Horsham Municipal Budget

HORSHAM TOWNSHIP, PA —The average taxpayer would pay $139 more in taxes next year under a $21.4 million municipal budget proposal.

During a budget presentation at the Nov. 8 Horsham Township Council meeting, Township Manager Bill Walker outlined the 2024 spending plan of $21,478,267, stating that it includes a real estate tax rate increase of 0.75 mills to 2.23 mills from the current rate of 1.48 mills.

"This is the first major tax increase we've had since 1989," Walker told Patch Thursday. He said the tax hike then was 2.8 mills.

For the 2024 tax hike, a resident of a home assessed at the township average of $183,001 would pay about $139 more in taxes next year, raising their tax bill to $408.09.

Of the 2.23 millage, 0.84 mills ($153.72) goes to the general fund, 0.47 mills ($86.01) to the library, 0.60 mills ($109.80) for fire service, and 0.32 mills ($58.56) for township parks.

"Horsham residents have enjoyed a municipal real estate tax rate at the very low end of Montgomery County municipalities for decades and still will, even with the proposed increase," Walker said.

The council is expected to review the budget proposal again at its Nov. 27 meeting and vote on the spending plan at its Dec. 13 meeting. There is also a special meeting slated for Dec. 18 if necessary.

Walker cited several reasons for the tax increase.

While Walker said he and the council have worked hard over the past few years to keep costs down and avoid tax increases, the cost to run the township has increased faster than the township's sources of revenue.

He said that while the long-term impacts of COVID on township revenues have not yet been fully determined, the "exorbitant inflationary pressures in the last couple of years have universally increased almost all township costs and expenditures."

Most major township infrastructure projects are funded outside of the township's general fund, and the township has been exceedingly successful over the last 6 or 7 years in earning grant awards to fund these projects.

Walker described the proposed tax increase as a "revenue replacement" strategy, noting that earned income tax (EIT) or the township's wage tax has supported as much as almost 60 percent of all its general fund expenditures and our reliance on real estate taxes for our budget has been in the 8-11 percent range.

In recent years, post-COVID, EIT has stagnated and declined slightly, and in 2024, EIT is only expected to support approximately 50 percent of the township's general fund expenditures, Walker said.

"Township leadership and its citizens have for many years enjoyed the absolute best in municipal services and a township to be truly proud of and revered," Walker said. "Departing from a level of excellence is just not an option. Other towns have deferred projects, deferred progress, and allowed their communities to slip into decline. We have many initiatives underway and in the works in Horsham Township which are necessary to plan, for a better community and to ensure that Horsham Township retains the standards of excellence which our residents and businesses have come to expect. The adoption of this revenue replacement strategy will keep us on the path to building and continuing our high standards, will keep initiatives and projects positively moving ahead, and will build a better future and community for our children."