Upper Darby residents are suing to block a newly approved local income tax, and are again arguing that procedural errors invalidate the ordinance. The lawsuit in the Delaware County Court of Common Pleas continues a struggle between the township council and a group of residents that has persistently raised concerns, and lawsuits, about the board’s adherence to policy. Many of the recent fights have focused on the board’s push for a new, 1% income tax for residents of the township. After enacting the budget last month, borough council approved an ordinance intended to enact a 1% earned income tax in July. The tax, council members argued, would provide a needed revenue source for the township, helping to keep local property taxes in check or allowing the township to lower them. Last year, the same group of residents successfully blocked Upper Darby’s attempt to approve a 1% earned-income tax, arguing in a lawsuit that the council had improperly passed that ordinance during a work session of the council rather than a meeting intended to approve policy. Upper Darby Mayor Ed Brown said he was disappointed to see another lawsuit “from a small group focusing on technicalities, rather than addressing the core sustainability issues in the township.”
Source: Philadelphia Inquirer; 3/17/2025