Municipal leaders in Chester County were given an introduction on how to increase their tax base during a Citizen Planner meeting earlier this month, writes Fran Maye for the Daily Local News.

David Babbitt, an expert on tax revenue resources for municipalities, prompted municipal leaders to encourage new development in a responsible way. He suggested they find new sources of revenue that could maintain or even lower the property tax rate for homeowners.

He emphasized that municipalities are not getting their fair share from property taxes as the last county-wide assessment was conducted in 1997.

“Most newer townhouses, newer homes, will generate sufficient revenue to cover their cost and have a positive fiscal impact,” Babbitt said. “My advice is don’t be afraid of accommodating new development, and in fact, encourage new development in certain situations as a way to generate revenue.”

He said that municipalities will get significantly higher revenue from a four-member family living in a newly-constructed four-bedroom house than from the same-size family living in a house constructed in the 1970s, even though both may have the same market value.

Read more about the Citizen Planner meeting in the Daily Local News here.

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