Chester County’s commissioners released the proposed 2026 budget last month, a plan that avoids any tax hikes for residents and positions the county as the only one in the Philadelphia suburbs set to forgo a tax increase in 2026, writes Katie Bernard for The Philadelphia Inquirer.
The commissioners projected $666.3 million in operational spending for the coming year, representing an increase of roughly 4.7 percent from 2025. The budget has bipartisan backing and is expected to pass.
Despite higher spending levels and reduced support from state and federal sources, county officials expect to avoid having to make a tax increase by implementing cuts across nearly all departments and pushing several projects to later dates.
“This budget was really difficult for us, but we did what we had to to keep it at zero,” said Chester County Commissioner Marian Moskowitz, a Democrat.
Chester County CEO David Byerman said the county is currently in a “defensive crouch” financially.
“We are in a very unpredictable environment in which we have a lot of conflicting information that we’re dealing with,” he said, referring to federal funding uncertainty under the current administration.
Read more about the proposed 2026 budget for Chester County in The Philadelphia Inquirer.
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