Credit: Tom Sofield/LevittownNow.com
Bucks County government won’t be raising taxes in 2023, according to the $458 million spending plan approved Wednesday.
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The Bucks County Commissioners – two Democrats and one Republican – unanimously approved the budget ahead of the new year.
The final budget does not feature any tax increases and cuts back on expenses by 3.6 percent over the 2022 approved budget.
The commissioners control the budget for county government departments, nine elected row offices, and the courts system. Their decisions impact more than 2,000 full-time employees that work from the upper part of the county to Lower Bucks County.
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The new budget will see the commissioners’ office and law department taking small budget decreases, 4.4 percent more spending among row offices, 1.2 percent in additional spending in the courts, a 2.6 percent jump in corrections costs, human services spending will rise .6 percent, there will be a drop in bridge reconstruction funding, a $860,000 jump in parks special projects spending, a 7.4 percent rise in emergency services department costs, and a 2 percent drop in health department spending.
County officials note the three quarters of the budget go toward social services, housing services, public health services, and public safety.
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The budget calls for debt service payments to decrease by 12 percent in 2023.
In 2023, the county expects a .9 percent increase in real estate tax revenue and a total of $72.5 million in new American Rescue Plan Act revenues.
Bucks County projects ending the current year with $51.8 million in the general fund, which is more than $2 million more than expected at the start of the year, according to Bucks County Chief Financial Officer David Boscola. Those funds will roll over into the new year.
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Boscola thanked the commissioners, COO Margie McKevitt, and county staff for making the budget possible.
Commissioners Bob Harvie, Diane Ellis-Marseglia, and Gene DiGirolamo approved the budget without a tax increase as they head into a year where their jobs will be on the ballot. Harvie and Ellis-Marseglia are running for reelection, and DiGirolamo is widely expected to run.
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