Tax Increase Approved As Yardley Adopts 2023 Municipal Budget

YARDLEY, PA —After weeks of public review, the borough's 2023 municipal budget is now a done deal.

While residents met with council members to go over line items in the $1.5 million budget, the tax increase outlined in the preliminary budget presentation last month did not change.

Residents of the average home assessed at $27,643 will pay an extra $37.05 to raise the homeowner's municipal portion of the tax bill to $831.26. Homes in Yardley were last assessed in the 1970s.

The final budget was approved unanimously by Borough Council in a 7-0 vote at its Dec. 6 meeting.

Borough Council, during the budget process, opened up the budget for public review for two weeks with Councilmen Matt Curtin, Don Carlson, and David Appelbaum meeting with residents to go over borough finances.

At one meeting, Council President Caroline Thompson outlined how much of an increase each borough council member would pay.

At that meeting, Appelbaum said he could skip a few meals and pay even more if that would help the borough's bottom line.

During the recent meeting, Appelbaum apologized for those remarks, saying he failed to recognize those less fortunate in the borough and Lower Bucks County who go without food.

"I felt bad. I might have been thinking of my own personal situation," Appelbaum said. "I might have been a little insensitive."

Curtin said he understands that proposing a tax increase is "never fun" but that the borough will work harder next year at reviewing finances on a regular basis and even maybe two or three years out.

"A lot of work was put in," Curtin said. "The budget is reasonable and balanced."