Region receiving millions in Whole Home Repairs bill
The Whole Home Repairs program, approved during the Pennsylvania 2022 budget process, will funnel millions of dollars to counties in the region. The program will give income-qualified homeowners grants of up to $50,000 to repair their homes. In addition, landlords who own no more than five properties and no more than 15 rental units can qualify for forgivable loans of up to $50,000 to be spent for rental unit repairs. The program, which draws on federal COVID-19 relief funds, is expected to be operational in early 2023. County officials will have the ultimate discretion on setting household income limits for homeowners, but that number is usually based on 80% of an area’s median household income. The following amounts will go to counties in the region:

• Bucks: $4.53 million
• Chester: $3.16 million
• Delaware: $4.55 million
• Montgomery: $6.12 million

Source: Daily Times; 11/29/2022 and Morning Call; 11/29/2022

As Gen X and Boomers age, they confront living alone
Nearly 26 million Americans 50 or older now live alone, up from 15 million in 2000. Older people have always been more likely than others to live by themselves, and now that age group — baby boomers and Gen Xers — makes up a bigger share of the population than at any time in the nation’s history. “There is this huge, kind of explosive social and demographic change happening,” said Markus Schafer, a sociologist at Baylor University who studies older populations. Forty years ago, units of less than 1,400 square feet made up about 40% of all new home construction; today, just 7% of new builds are smaller homes, despite the fact that the number of single-person households has surged. This has made it more difficult for older Americans to downsize, as a large, aging house can often command less than what a single adult needs to establish a new, smaller home and pay for their living and health care expenses in retirement. And when they hold onto family-size houses well into retirement, there are fewer spacious homes placed on the market for young families, who in turn squeeze into smaller units or withstand long commutes in a search for affordable housing. “Both ends of the age distribution are getting squeezed,” said Jenny Schuetz, an expert on housing and urban economics at the Brookings Institution.
Source: New York Times; 11/27/2022

No tax increase in Bucks 2023 preliminary budget
Bucks County released its preliminary budget for 2023 that does not include a tax increase thanks to additional anticipated revenues, including funds from the American Rescue Plan Act. If the $457.5 million budget is approved without change, the budget will be balanced without a tax increase or use of the general fund savings balance. It will also mark the third year without a tax increase. The county also enters the new year with its AAA bond rating recently reaffirmed by Moody’s Investors Service and Global Ratings. Over the next several weeks, the commissioners will analyze the proposed 2023 budget, and they expect to hold a public hearing where community members can ask questions and offer comments. The commissioners are scheduled to vote to approve the final budget on Wednesday, Dec. 21. The 2023 preliminary budget can be reviewed on the county’s website.
Source: Bucks County; 11/23/2022

Central Bucks realignment plan for voting regions could sideline some voters for 2 years
The Central Bucks School Board recently voted 6-3 to move forward with a redistricting plan shifting 12 voting precincts in six of Central Bucks’ nine regions. Five of those regions include school board seats up for election in 2023. The proposal would move thousands of voters who are due to head to the polls in 2023 to a region that doesn't elect a member until 2025. The plan moves a dozen districts in Regions 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 and 8, which would shift about 32,100 residents to new regions in New Britain Borough and Doylestown, New Britain, Buckingham and Plumstead townships. In addition to moving 6,000 residents in New Britain Borough and Doylestown’s 5th precinct to Region 5, about 7,300 people in New Britain Township’s South 1, West 1 and West 2 precincts would move to Region 1. The change only affects voting districts and not where students attend school. School board solicitor Jeff Garton explained that the realignment is necessary because the Pennsylvania School Code requires school districts to have regions divided as evenly as possible. Although the new population estimates from the delayed 2020 census were received last summer, Garton said “the rush of other business” prevented he and Superintendent Abram Lucabaugh from developing the realignment plan sooner. During last week's public comment, former school board member Tracy Suits presented an alternative redistricting plan that would not prevent any voters from casting a ballot next year. While the board voted in favor of a proposed redistricting plan, there are several steps in the process and the board could still amend its plan. Read more here.
Source: Bucks County Courier Times; 11/25/2022

Earned income tax proposed for Falls Township
Falls Township officials looking to balance a $73.3 million budget for 2023 are considering enacting an earned income tax (EIT). The township estimates that its residents are paying roughly $3.5 million to other municipalities in the form of an EIT. Under state law, a municipality and its school district can split a 1% earned income tax charged to residents. If the school district does not charge the tax, the municipality keeps the 1%. But if the district also does not charge an earned income tax, residents who work in another municipality in Pennsylvania that charges the tax must pay it there — except for Philadelphia, which gets to keep the wage tax it charges. The Falls supervisors voted 3-2 at a recent meeting to advertise a proposed EIT that would raise approximately $7 million for the township. Falls is among the few remaining municipalities in Bucks County that do not have an EIT. Both the EIT and the proposed budget will be considered for adoption at the supervisors' Monday, Dec. 19, meeting.
Source: Bucks County Courier Times; 11/22/2022

Middletown budget available for review
The Middletown Township 2023 budget is available for public review on the township website. The budget document details how the township accumulates and dispenses its resources. It includes a reader’s guide that outlines the budget process, clarifies the content, and helps readers to navigate the document. The overall 2023 budget is balanced and includes $38.85 million in operational expenditures and $9.07 million in capital expenditures. There is no tax increase proposed. Visit the Middletown Township website for upcoming meeting information.
Source: Middletown Township; 11/16/2022

Velocity Venture Partners purchases office properties
Bala Cynwyd-based Velocity Venture Partners have purchased four properties in Bucks and Montgomery counties, adding to its large portfolio of industrial and flex space in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Each new property features a current or former office building. Venture saw an opportunity to convert the properties to industrial or flex space. According to Velocity co-founder Tony Grelli, since the start of the pandemic demand has increased for domestic manufacturing, as well as local inventory for retail and e-commerce. The places Velocity bought have the “bones” of industrial buildings, Grelli said, making them attractive to the company, which specializes in converting buildings. Velocity recently purchased: the County Line Commerce Center, 101-125 County Line Road, Warminster, for $27.75 million; the former Harleysville Group headquarters, 355 Maple Ave., Harleysville, for $18.5 million; the former site of NMS Labs, 3701 Welsh Road, Willow Grove, for $2.37 million; and a former bank site at 483 Main St., Harleysville, for $3.15 million.
Source: Philadelphia Business Journal; 11/22/2022

Ratepayers hold Aqua, New Garden accountable for skyrocketing wastewater bills
For more than four hours at the New Garden Elementary School auditorium on Nov. 21, three factions discussed an agreement of sale that has stoked controversy in the township for years. In one corner of the room, the New Garden Township Board of Supervisors sat at a table, facing another table occupied by three executives from Aqua Pennsylvania, including its president, Marc Lucca. There were also more than 200 township residents who showed up to protest the massive increase they are seeing in their wastewater bills from Aqua — as much as 140% over the past year — following the township’s sale of its wastewater system to Aqua for $29.5 million in 2020. They wanted to know how the township has allocated the proceeds from the sale of the wastewater system. After using $4.5 million to cover the cost of the Southern Chester County Regional Police Department’s new facility, the township spent an additional $2.5 of the proceeds on the development of a township park, made contributions to the Avondale Fire Company, the Kennett Library & Resource Center and the Saint Anthony’s in the Hills Reserve Fund, and set aside funding for a stormwater program, among other projects. Read more here.
Source: Chester County Press; 11/22/2022

Taxes steady in Pennsbury
Pennsbury Township supervisors will vote in December to finalize a proposed budget that keeps property taxes steady at 1.49 mills. The balanced budget has revenues and expenses both projected at $1.74 million. The proposed budget can be found on the township website. Supervisors are scheduled to vote on the budget during their Wednesday, Dec. 14, meeting at 5 p.m.
Source: Chadds Ford Live; 11/17/2022

After referendum approval, Westtown advertises ordinances relating to open space taxes
Westtown Township will hold public hearings on two ordinances relating to taxes for open space preservation. One ordinance imposes an additional real estate tax at the rate of 0.21 mills on real property as authorized by voter referendum in November. The second ordinance imposes an additional earned income tax for expenses related to open space lands at the rate of 0.04% on earned income and net profits of individual residents of the township, again as authorized by voter referendum. Both ordinances require the tax to commence in tax year 2023 and continue each year thereafter without annual reenactment, unless the tax is repealed or the tax rate is changed. Both ordinances will be considered for adoption at separate public hearings on Monday, Dec. 5, at 7:30 p.m., at the township building, 1039 Wilmington Pike, West Chester. Members of the public may attend and comment in person or remotely via Zoom, or observe the meeting via YouTube. Visit the township website for meeting details.
Source: Daily Local; 11/21/2022

PennDOT making safety upgrades on High Street in West Chester
PennDOT is planning improvements in West Chester Borough that will boost pedestrian safety and should cut down on pedestrian and vehicle accidents. According to the borough, PennDOT is spending almost $2 million on safety improvements on South High Street, between Barnard Street and Rosedale Avenue, with construction slated to begin late next year. The work is in line with the High Street Corridor Study completed in 2020, and is expected to be completed in 2024. A virtual public meeting will be held Tuesday, Dec. 6, at 6 p.m., to provide residents and other stakeholders an opportunity to review the plans and provide input.
Source: Daily Local; 12/1/2022