Bucks County’s Board of Commissioners during its meeting on Dec. 15 voted unanimously to adopt a balanced operating budget with no tax increase for 2022.
At $475.5 million, the new year’s budget is 1.4 percent larger than the budget for 2021. But due in part to the $24.7 million Lake Galena conservation agreement, the commissioners were able to adopt a balanced budget without increasing taxes or drawing from the general fund.
The historic agreement with Bucks County Water and Sewer Authority (BCWSA), which the commissioners approved earlier this month, permanently preserves Lake Galena and surrounding Peace Valley Park while shifting the operational and upkeep costs of the lake’s dam to BCWSA.
“We are pleased to have passed a budget, once again, with no tax increases,” said Commissioner Chair Diane Ellis-Marseglia. “The fact that we have increased services to residents while maintaining a zero-tax increase budget is a win for the residents and businesses of Bucks County as they focus on full recovery in 2022.”
The county also will enter the new year with its AAA bond rating recently reaffirmed by Moody’s Investors Service. The county anticipates carrying a balance of $44.2 million in the general fund into 2022.
As in previous years, at 75 percent, county departments providing public safety, health, housing and human services account for the largest portion of the 2022 budget.
The 2022 budget includes provisions for departments serving Bucks County residents such as Area Agency on Aging (AAA), Behavioral Health/Developmental Programs, Board of Elections, Children & Youth Social Services Agency, Community Services, Corrections, Emergency Services, General Services, Health Department, Neshaminy Manor, Parks and Recreation and Military Affairs, among others.
The budget also provides for courts and nine elected ROW offices, including the Clerk of Courts, Controller, Coroner, District Attorney, Prothonotary, Recorder of Deeds, Register of Wills, Sheriff and Treasurer.
Media Contact: James O’Malley, 215-348-6414, [email protected]