Newtown Borough Adopts Final Budget, Tax Rates Going Up In 2026

NEWTOWN BOROUGH, PA — The Newtown Borough Council at its last meeting of the year adopted a final budget for 2026 that will boost the municipal tax rate by five mills to pay for the escalating cost of the emergency services.

The council voted unanimously to approve next year's spendiing plan that will boost the municipal tax rate by five mills, or about $250 annually for the property owner with an average assessment.

The budget allocates three mills of the increase to fund fire service coverage, a quarter of a mill to fund the Newtown Emergency Medical Services, and 1.75 mills to the general fund to pay for the increased cost of police protection.

The three mill increase will pay for fire protection through a fire services agreement still being negotiated with Newtown Township. Driving the increase in cost is the township’s transition from a volunteer to a paid fire service. The township is passing part of that cost to the borough through the agreement.

A quarter mill will go toward Newtown EMS, which had asked the borough for a half mill increase to pay for upcoming capital projects that aren’t covered by insurance reimbursements. The quarter mill increase will boost the borough’s contribution to EMS to .75 mills.

“The cost to operate an EMS organization has grown exponentially,” said Chief Evan Resnikoff in October. “As we all know, everything has gotten more expensive, but it’s not just labor and it’s not just fuel, we’re looking at some pretty big capital projects.”

Those projects include two new ambulances at a cost of nearly $600,000 each, five new heart monitors and the replacement of the HVAC system at its Eagle Road headquarters.

The balance of the millage increase - 1.75 mills - will go toward the general fund to offset the increased cost of police protection, including a new four year contract with its full-time officers approved by the council in December.

"Like every municipality, we’re faced with the seemingly insurmountable increases in everything, but specifically emergency services - fire, police, EMS. And we haven’t raised millage in our general fund for many years. If we don’t do it now, it will keep snowballing,” said Council President Emily Heinz in November when the details of the budget were released.

“We’re looking at it from two different angles. We need to support our emergency services, which are critical and whose costs are becoming astronomical, and we need to make sure our general fund is healthy to support our police department.”