DELAWARE COUNTY, Pa. (KYW Newsradio) — Voters in Delaware County will get to decide this fall if they want to fund special projects to improve the natural environment. However, those improvements will come at a cost.
Delaware County Council voted unanimously last week to add a question to the November midterm election ballot.
“This question is going to ask our voters if they would be willing to fund our greenways and open space, waterways and natural environment with a bond up to $120 million,” said Councilmember Elaine Paul Schaefer.
But if residents choose to vote in favor of the question, Schaefer said that would mean a tax increase of $24 per household.
“We’d like to go to voters and say, ‘How important is this to you and is it worth $24 dollars a year to make these investments and to continue to make these investments?’”
According to Schaefer, over the last few years, Delaware County has been able to make more than $40 million in these kinds of improvement projects thanks to its greenways grants program — but the program stopped, “because we ran out of money.”
Part of the program would allow individual municipalities to decide how they want their environment improved.
“Some of them put it towards trails, some of them put it towards their parks, some put it towards protecting their creeks, streams and waterways, and putting in buffering,” Schaefer said.
“All of our municipalities are anxiously and eagerly awaiting for us to re-fund this program because it was so successful.”
Taxes in Delaware County have increased for the last three years, including a 19% property tax hike on this year’s budget.
