Taxes Are Going Up Next Year In Newtown Borough: Find Out How Much

NEWTOWN BOROUGH, PA — The Newtown Borough Council will be asking its taxpayers to dig a little deeper in their pockets next year to pay for the escalating cost of the emergency services.

At its meeting on Nov. 18, council is expected to advertise a budget spending plan for 2026 that will boost the municipal tax rate by five mills, or about $250 annually for the property owner with an average assessment.

The council finalized the increase at Wednesday’s agenda meeting, agreeing to allocate 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.

“We have to fund our police department. We have to fund the emergency services. They are very expensive. Costs are going up. That’s the reality,” said Councilor Kris Bauman.

The three mill increase will pay for fire protection through a fire services agreement now being negotiating 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 to increase its contribution to one mill from a half mill 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 - will go toward its general fund to pay for the increased cost of police protection, including a new contract with its full-time officers currently being negotiated.

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.

“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.”

Council has scheduled a vote at its Nov. 18 meeting to advertise the budget for passage in December. Following the vote, the spending plan will be available for public review at Borough Hall.