Colonial SD Tax Increases: How It Compares To The Rest Of Montco

PLYMOUTH-WHITEMARSH, PA — Montgomery County has 22 school districts. Which one has biggest tax increase this year?

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

So how does Colonial School District compare?

According to the analysis, residents in Colonial will pay an average of $129 more in 2019-20. That's a 3.9 percent increase over last year, the largest in all of Montgomery County.

Over the past 10 years, Colonial residents have experienced a 32 percent increase, among the highest numbers in the county.

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, 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), Jenkintown (43rd), Souderton (44th), and Abington (49th) all made the top 50. (You can read more about the methodology here.)