Court To Consider Warminster Tax Increase

WARMINSTER, PA — Supervisors in Warminster Towship have a date in court to decide whether their plan to patch a budget deficit with a property-tax increase may go forward.

Last month, a newly elected board approved an $18.9 million budget that would raise property taxes going to the general fund in Warminster by 7.91 mills — from 11.09 to 19. A mill equals $1 of taxes per $1,000 of a home's assessed value.

On Feb. 13, they'll have to defend that plan in court. That's when the Bucks County Court of Common Pleas has scheduled a hearing, for 9:30 a.m. in Courtroom No. 350 of the Bucks County Justice Center, at 100 N. Main St. in Doylestown.

The hearing is technically a "petition for emergency relief" by Warminster. Townships like Warminster may assess property taxes at a rate up to 14 mills and, after that, need court approval.

"The Township has eliminated expenditures in every possible way in order to balance the general fund," officials wrote in their petition to the court, "however, as a result of a decrease in revenue and an increase in expenditures, many relating to contractual obligations of the Township, the Township will be operating at a deficit in the general fund if it does not levy and collect a tax exceeding 14 mills for general Township purposes."

While preparing the 2020 budget, Warminster officials anticipated a general-fund deficit of about $2.6 million if they stayed at the current millage rate. That's after a deficit of about $1.4 million in 2018 and an anticipated deficit of nearly that much for 2019.

"It is expected that continued deficits at the current rate will exhaust the Township’s general fund balance within the year," the petition reads.

Last year, Warminster's board of supervisors voted to sell off the township's water and sewer systems — a move that would have generated an estimated $90 million.

But November's elections changed the makeup of the board, changing several members and shifting control of the panel from Republicans to Democrats. In January, the new board voted to re-open budget discussions.