Bucks County property taxes will go up 5.4 percent in 2018 to cover a $10 million budget deficit. It’s the first time in six years county taxes have risen.
Bucks County commissioners voted Wednesday morning to raise property taxes by 5.4 percent for 2018. The unanimous vote will generate the revenue needed to close a $10 million budget deficit, according to Chief Operating Officer Brian Hessenthaler, and leave a surplus of about $94,000.
The $423.9 million budget calls for a tax hike of 1.25 mills, increasing total county property taxes from 23.2 to 24.45 mills. A mill is $1 for every $1,000 of a property’s tax assessed value. A tax bill can be calculated by dividing a property’s assessed value by $1,000 and multiplying by the millage rate. According to Hessenthaler, the average homeowner in Bucks County will see an additional $45 on their county taxes this year.
All three commissioners chalked up much of the expenditure increases to the ongoing fight against the opioid epidemic. Increased drug use in the county has led to rising costs for the district attorney, coroner and corrections. According to information provided by the commissioners’ office, the number of opioid-related arrests have gone up 29.3 percent in the last two years, autopsies performed over the last two years increased by 141.4 percent, drug-related deaths have increased by 37.1 percent since 2015 and the average number of inmates outsourced to other counties has increased by 258.5 percent for the last two years, all attributed by the county to the opioid crisis.