Haverford Township proposes 3% real estate tax hike for 2026

Haverford Township’s Board of Commissioners on Nov. 17 adopted a preliminary 2026 budget that includes a 3.3% increase in the township real estate tax and a $12 increase in the annual trash and recycling fee — changes that officials described as “just enough to keep pace with rising essential costs.”

Haverford Township Manager David Berman said Haverford’s general fund expenditures will rise 5% overall in 2026 — but just 3% when subtracting “timing-related items” such as transfers to the capital fund for infrastructure projects and an extra contribution to bolster township employee pension plans. Put another way, that 3% rise represents a $1.5 million increase compared to 2025 general fund expenditures, for a total of $54.7 million.

The cost of benefits for township employees was one of the key factors affecting next year’s preliminary budget, according to Berman. Those include contractual wage increases of 3.6% and 4.2% for civilian and police personnel, respectively, a 5.9% increase in health insurance costs, and changes to the township’s minimum municipal obligation to employees’ pension plans — an actuarially defined figure that can rise when the stock market underperforms.

Other drivers of the general fund budget increase included a 5.4% rise in utility costs, and a 3% increase in both library operational funding and volunteer fire company operational funding.

Meanwhile, Berman said the proposed trash fee will rise to $295 in 2026 due in part to a 4.97% rise in Delaware County Solid Waste Authority charges and the slight rise in year-over-year trash tonnage.

Regarding the proposed 3.3% real estate tax hike, Berman said the average home assessed at $346,000 would see a $51 per year increase and a median increase of $46 per year. He also noted that property taxes provide the “single largest source of revenue” in the township’s general fund, but the amount tends to stay flat year over year since Haverford is a built-out community of homes with relatively flat assessed values.

“The core point is simple; our main revenue source is flat and our costs are not,” Berman said. A tax increase, he added, is “not a sign of mismanagement; it’s simply the math of local government finance.”

The township’s commissioners voted unanimously to preliminarily adopt the 2026 budget and set the trash fee at $295. In general, the commissioners seemed to agree with the rationale presented by Berman — even 1st Ward Commissioner Brian Gondek, who admitted he’s been critical of tax increases in the past, said township officials did what they could to keep taxes low.

“When we started this whole project, we were looking at substantially higher than 3.3%,” he remarked. “There were a lot of conversations, there was a lot of belt tightening.”

There was only one public comment at the meeting. Resident Michelle Alvare urged the commissioners to adopt a per-container fee for trash pickup, arguing that it was a more equitable way to charge for the service since some households produce far less waste than others.