Schwartz on Taxes

By David Paul Schwartz

Upper Darby has one of the highest tax rates in the region. We need an innovative, long term and more comprehensive approach that will cover our costs and can lower tax rates.

There are several reasons for our high tax rate. One is our aging infrastructure, which requires extensive maintenance. We are also the largest Township in PA and the 2nd largest in the nation with a population over 80,000, and require extensive police, fire, and EMS service. These costs, combined with the gradual decline in our economic and industrial tax base has led to high tax rates for our residents and remaining businesses. So how can we pay for increasing costs for required service and maintenance? There are three basic ways; Raise taxes, Expand or Improve our existing tax base, or Cut costs. The easiest thing is the first option, and it's the option that has been used most often by council. Unfortunately, it is also an unsustainable option, as it means that, as costs go up, taxes will continue to go up as well. I want to examine other options that can raise revenue while not raising taxes.

Commercial Tax Base

Unlike some other townships, we cannot simply add tax ratables through new construction, since our Township is completely built out. Fortunately, there are many other opportunities that we do have that can help us expand our tax base. There are a number of industrial, office, and commercial establishments in our township that are unutilized or underutilized. These include unused office spaces, vacant retail storefronts, and dilapidated commercial areas in our Township that are prime locations for re-development opportunities that can grow our tax base and increase our revenue without increasing our taxes.

Cutting Costs

One very effective way to keep taxes down is to reduce our expenditures. Some of the savings I hope to achieve in energy can be found under my environmental position brief, but that only scratches the surface. I want to go through the details of our Township budget and achieve efficiency in our government.

The items described in the annual budgets reports made available to the public are extremely vague, and do not provide specifics as to exactly where our tax dollars are going. I want more detailed breakdowns of budgetary items and go line-by-line through these items to find ways to identify savings opportunities and make responsible cuts to wasteful spending practices.

Residential Taxes + Improvement of our Housing Stock

Residential taxes have been the backbone of our tax base in Upper Darby for a long time. While we have been somewhat insulated from the recent economic downturn, in previous years, the median home value in our Township has gone up at a rate lower than that of Delaware County and we have an average home value less than the county average. What this means is that the assessed value of homes remains stagnant and our residential tax income stays flat, leading to raises in our tax rate to account for increasing costs.

There is more that we can do to improve our housing stock by maintaining our stable communities and by stabilizing our unstable or at-risk communities. By employing appropriate strategies in these areas, such as applying for Elm Street programs from the state, creating non-profit Community Development Corporations, and promoting redevelopment around our commercial cores. Redevelopment in these core areas can improve conditions community-wide, increasing home values, stabilizing areas, and keeping our revenue from taxes in line with our increasing costs.