Chester Co School Tax Increases For 2019-20, District-By-District

CHESTER COUNTY, PA — Chester County has 13 school districts. Which one has biggest tax increase this year?

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

The Coatesville Area and Tredyffrin/Easttown school districts are experiencing the largest percent tax increase this year, the analysis says. Residents in both district will pay 3.9 percent more in 2019-20, which is $155 for the average homeowner in the Coatesville district and $230 in Tredyffrin/Easttown School District.

Coatesville has experienced a 19 percent tax increase in the past five years — the highest of any Chester County district. Residents there will now pay $4,101, according to the Inquirer analysis.

TESD residents have seen an 18 percent hike over the last five years. They will pay $6,121 now.

The following districts have increases that range from 2.1 to 3 percent: Avon Grove, Spring-Ford Area, Owen J. Roberts, Unionville-Chadds Ford, Phoenixville Area, and Octorara Area school districts.

West Chester Area, Kennett Consolidated, Great Valley, and Oxford Area will all see increases of less than 2 percent.

Taxes in the Downingtown Area School District will not see an increase this year.

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

A new school district ranking was released last week by data compiler Niche, and many in Chester County made the top 100 in the state. In that assessment, the top-ranked Chesco school district is Tredyffrin/Easttown, which came first in the state.

Next up was Great Valley, which was ranked ninth in Pennsylvania. Unionville-Chadds Ford District came in 11th in the state.

Spring-Ford Area was ranked 24th, Downingtown No. 25, West Chester Area No. 30, Owen J. Roberts No. 39, Kennett Consolidated No. 55, and Phoenixville No. 63. (You can read more about the methodology here.)