How Montco is addressing homelessness with an unusually bipartisan effort

By the end of this year, Montgomery County will have three emergency short-term shelters with beds for 190 people in Pottstown, Lansdale, and Norristown.

In late 2024, it had zero full-time shelters, even as homelessness soared to new heights in the county — Pennsylvania’s second wealthiest.

The three-member board of commissioners is currently composed of two Democrats and one Republican, but in the past year they have operated with an unusual degree of cohesion on both the challenge of homelessness and on a county budget that included a small property tax increase.

“We came in with similar goals around addressing the homeless problem throughout the county,” said Tom DiBello, the Republican commissioner. “We all heard it when we were campaigning [in 2023] and when we got elected, we felt that we needed to do something. We can’t continue doing it the way it’s always been done in the past, where people just kept talking about it.”

Although the Montgomery County commissioners have formed a united front on many issues last year, housing policy issues are more likely to divide them in 2026.

In Pennsylvania, county governments’ revenue sources are restricted to the politically sensitive property tax. And counties have no direct influence over municipal-level zoning restrictions that limit how much housing can be built.

But the Democrat commissioners, Neil Makhija and Jamila Winder, have ideas about how to get around those limitations to directly fund more affordable housing and encourage local governments to allow more building.

DiBello is not excited about many of the proposals being considered by the two Democrats. He opposes creating new county-level taxes and says zoning powers should be left to localities.

Still, DiBello has further housing policy goals he would like to pursue — such as developing more affordable homes for senior citizens.

As the county releases its 2026 housing blueprint, expected early this year, the first round of these debates will begin in earnest. This planning document, created by county government staff with commissioner feedback, lays out goals for the county based on a comprehensive housing policy — the first its seen in recent memory, Makhija says.

“It’s going to be the first time that the entire board has had a voice and a view on what our role is to address a crisis in the cost of housing,” said Makhija. “There are things we can do to help people.”

Making policy to address homelessness is difficult because many municipalities and community groups fight against having shelters placed in their neighborhoods.

The number of people in Montgomery County experiencing homelessness has grown with the cost of housing. In 2024, there were 435 people living without a roof over their heads. In 2025, the number grew to 534.

Meanwhile, Montgomery County’s last full-service homeless shelter closed in 2022.

Opposition to new shelters or affordable housing bloomed in Norristown, where officials said the rowhouse-dominated municipality was already asked to shoulder too many social services, and in Lower Providence where the local government denied a shelter application (the legal fallout is ongoing).

The county commissioners decided to get involved by courting local governments and personally attending zoning hearings about potential placements. DiBello attended meetings in Pottstown, near where he lives. Winder went to hearings in Norristown, including one that stretched past midnight, then stuck around to discuss neighbors’ concerns.

In some parts of the county, efforts to address the issue overcame opposition.

Communities like East Norriton have established more code blue shelters, which only operate during freezing weather, and in wealthy Lower Merion, a new affordable housing complex for seniors and people with disabilities, called Ardmore House II, is under construction.

“It takes political courage in these moments,” Winder said, referring to local officials who have embraced shelters and affordable housing. “Sometimes you have loud voices in the room and just have to say, well, this is the right thing to do.”

The commissioners provided $5.3 million in county funding for the shelters. The county also provided a quarter of Ardmore House II’s $20 million budget. And as federal funding cuts loom under President Donald Trump’s administration, the commissioners have also been engaging with philanthropists and foundations.

Earlier this month, Nand Todi, president of Montgomery County-based Penn Manufacturing Industries, announced a $1 million donation to the Lansdale shelter.

Winder hopes this example of generosity is just the beginning.

“I come from the private sector, so I believe in public private partnerships,” said Winder. “We’re home to some of the largest corporations in the Southeast area. We know that companies have social responsibility goals. So how do we partner with corporations?”

This year, the commissioners want to continue to tackle housing issues.

But county-level politicians do not have large budgets at their command, and unlike their municipal-level counterparts, they do not set zoning policy.

Makhija and Winder want to push those limits.

For example, the county dispenses infrastructure grants and Makhija says the rules around that funding could be rewritten to incentivize municipalities to reform their zoning codes, perhaps using model ordinances established by the county.

Such ordinances could, for example, allow more transit-oriented development. Or they could legalize accessory dwelling units — small living spaces such as a garage apartment or in-law suite that can be rented out.

“If you have a grant program and it says these are the requirements, then people are going to prioritize getting those things done,” said Makhija, though, he said, he still has to make the case to his colleagues.

He also noted that county planning staff can help implement new municipality policies.

DiBello is skeptical of the county getting involved in local zoning policy.

“The governing structure in Pennsylvania is that municipalities are autonomous to county and state when it comes to zoning,” said DiBello. “It’s up to the communities.”

The Democrats would also like to find revenue sources to pay for more housing projects without increasing the property tax, which would cut against their goal of affordability.

But for that they would need permission from Harrisburg, which Republicans in the state Senate have denied.

“There are opportunities for us to advocate to the state legislature, to give counties like ours other means to generate revenue,” said Winder. “It’s not sustainable to continue to burden taxpayers by increasing property taxes and we can’t fund these programs unless we have the money to do so.”

DiBello is also opposed to creating new taxes (if Harrisburg allows it), and doesn’t want to see more property tax increases either. But he still wants to see proactive housing investments by county government.

These debates will unfold next year as the housing blueprint dominates the commissioners’ agenda.

“We’re the second wealthiest county in Pennsylvania and people struggling to find housing can be quite invisible in these communities,” said Winder. “We’ve got an embarrassment of riches, but there are people that are struggling and so we’re trying to be on the ground helping to solve these issues.”