Bucks County will increase property taxes by 8% in 2026 to close deficit

Bucks County residents will see an 8% property tax increase next year.

The Democratic-led Bucks County Board of Commissioners voted 2-1 Wednesday to raise taxes in response to a $16.4 million deficit in the county’s $516 million operating budget.

County staff had requested a 7.2% tax increase to fill the budget hole, but Democratic Commissioners Bob Harvie and Diane Ellis-Marseglia voted to increase that hike to 8%, citing inflation and uncertainty in state and federal dollars.

“It’s leaving us with a very, very small surplus in a very uncertain time,” Harvie, a candidate for Congress, said of the original request.

Republican Commissioner Gene DiGirolamo voted against the tax increase but did not say why.

The tax boost will translate to an increase of around $72 annually for the owner of a home assessed at the Bucks County average, county officials said.

The increase will take effect in January.

It comes as counties across Pennsylvania move toward higher property taxes. Montgomery County is poised to approve a 4% tax increase on Thursday, and Delaware County voted to raise its taxes 19% last week.

Chester County’s commissioners voted Wednesday to approve a budget without a tax increase. Bucks County was the only one of Philly’s collar counties not to raise property taxes in 2025.

In this year’s budget, Bucks County committed additional funds to the local community college and library systems, officials said. And, Ellis-Marseglia said, the cost of providing services to county residents had only increased.

“It’s reasonable to think that it costs more to take care of the people in our nursing home, the people in our jail,” she said.

As a result, Ellis-Marseglia and Harvie argued for a slightly larger tax increase this year to provide a cushion for the county to lean on.

“I see things as getting really dark in the future in terms of money,” Ellis-Marseglia said.