Ridley Park Borough Council is expected to vote on a 2024 budget that includes a 17% increase on sewer fees and real estate taxes to make up for a shortfall of unpaid taxes by the borough’s largest taxpayer, Taylor Hospital. “Unfortunately, it’s going to fall to the residents of the borough,” said Council President Dane Collins. Borough Manager Richard Tutak Jr. said the increase is expected to be roughly $350 for a home valued at $170,000. The tax and fee increases will have ripple effects that will be devastating to the borough of about 7,100 people, he said. The borough’s budget is balanced every year with the assessed value that was provided by the county. Tutak said the hospital, which has been owned by the for-profit, California-based corporation Prospect Medical Holding Inc. since 2016, currently owes the borough hundreds of thousands of dollars. County tax records indicated Taylor, assessed at $60 million, owes more than $1.77 million in delinquent school taxes to Ridley School District for 2022 and more than $181,000 in county taxes. Read more on the borough website.
Source: Daily Times; 12/13/2023