Delaware County property taxes could rise 19% in 2026

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For the second consecutive year, property taxes could soar for Delaware County homeowners.

According to the county’s proposed 2026 budget, taxes could climb 19% — which would translate to an average monthly increase of $15.67 or an annual tax bill increase of $188.04 on a home valued at $255,000.

“We do not take this lightly or do this lightly at all, but it is required to address the structural deficit that we have and to make sure that we are able to pay and provide the services that our residents are entitled to and that we as a county are mandated to provide,” said county executive director Barbara O’Malley, as she delivered a breakdown of the proposed budget to the County Council Wednesday night.

Delaware County’s budget is comprised of four portions: the capital fund, Fair Acres Geriatric Center, the fiscal year and the operating budget. The combined proposed spending plan is almost $1 billion.

The capital fund is paid primarily through an annual debt service, and Fair Acres relies almost solely on federal funding. The proposed operating budget, which sits at $340 million, is paid for by taxpayers and other sources.

“When we look at our budget, what we needed to do last year and continuing this year is address a structural deficit,” O’Malley said. “We simply have expenses that exceed our revenues.”

The court and prison system is Delco’s biggest expenditure, followed by county services.

Another year, another tax increase

In 2024, Delaware County Council greenlit a 23% property tax increase, citing the need for more revenue amid rising inflation.

The all-Democratic governing body blamed previous GOP-led administrations for deferring maintenance, causing short-term cost savings to snowball into long-term burdens.

Vice chair Richard Womack initiated the creation of a budget task force following public outcry. The subcommittees met throughout 2025 in an attempt to diagnose the county’s problems, explore paths to tighten the belt and find ways to raise revenue. The Budget Task Force held its final public meeting in November.

The Cost Containment Subcommittee of the Delaware County Budget Task Force presented a number of recommendations to the County Council. Some of these endeavors are already underway.

“We have been on a hiring freeze for non-essential positions,” O’Malley said.

From consolidating contracts to reforming benefits for county employees, county officials said they have already begun slashing spending, but a tax increase still became necessary.

“This has never been an either-or proposition,” O’Malley said. “We need to both increase revenue, whether that is non-tax revenue, and decrease costs.”

Delaware County Council confronts ‘harsh reality’ of budget season

Elected officials were mostly reluctant in their support of the proposed budget.

“While I do not like the idea of another big tax increase, I even like less the idea of finding ourselves without the cash we need to pay our bills,” Councilmember Christine Reuther said.

Councilmember Kevin Madden called the budget a “harsh reality” in the face of “significant inflationary pressure.”

“Let’s do what we have to do now to make sure this county is on solid footing,” Madden said. “That’s what we have to do. That’s what we have been elected to do.”

Councilmember Elaine Paul Schaefer split with her colleagues.

“As presented, I am not going to support this budget,” Schaefer said. “I feel very strongly that after the large increase that we had last year that an increase is totally necessary — but I feel like there were the changes that we could have made to make it smaller.”

In a period of economic uncertainty, Schaefer said she felt the county is obliged to do everything it can to minimize the impact of tax increases on residents, even if it means shaving a few percentage points from the tax hike.

There will be a public hearing on the budget on Dec. 8.

Although the officials shared their disagreements about the tax increase, all of them agreed that the establishment of a health department and the deprivatization of the George W. Hill Correctional Facility did not play a major role in the increased costs.

“The budget for the health department is roughly $13 million,” O’Malley said. “Eighty percent of that is non-county revenue. So that is funded through state, federal funds that are ongoing [and] other revenue sources like fees. So 20% of that roughly is covered by the county. Right now, that has been covered by [American Rescue Plan Act] funds. So there’s been no bearing or cost to the county for the health department.”

O’Malley said the prison was always a “significant budget item,” even when it was privately managed by GEO Group.

‘This feels like deja vu’: Delco residents slam proposed tax bump

Residents did not hold back their feelings on absorbing another tax increase.

“This feels like déjà vu,” Mary McDonald, of Drexel Hill, said.

She admonished the county for ignoring the desires of community members.

“What we as residents need are hospitals and what you want is a health department,” McDonald said. “What we want is lower taxes and what you want is to run the prison.”

Michael Straw, of Media, reiterated his belief that the county has a spending problem, not a revenue problem.

“The proposed budget has millions of dollars of increases that are unnecessary that I’ve looked at and at the end of the day you could trim back some of this spending and get rid of this 19% tax increase,” Straw said.

He commended Schaefer for speaking out against the proposed budget.

“I have to say you’ve earned a lot of respect with me today from what you said because I do think that there are some cuts here that can be made and it’s about meeting in the middle at the end of the day,” Straw said. “It doesn’t have to be a 19% tax increase. It doesn’t.”