The Chester County Commission met Monday evening, June 8, in a special called meeting, unanimously passing all components of the 2026-2027 Budget, in under 20 minutes. With 17 commissioners present and one absent (Commissioner Jerry Lowe), the body worked through each agenda item and individual portions of the budget, voting unanimously in each roll call vote.
The Chester County Tax Levy was approved at 1.5853 with no tax increase, as recommended by the County Budget Committee. The Tax Levy remains at 1.5853, as it was for 2025-2026, with adjustments from last year’s general 1.1453 to 1.2142 in the current budget, last year’s highway and utilities moves from .02 to .0195 and general purpose school moves from the previous .42 to .3516 for the current year.
Approved unanimously by the body present, also previously recommended and approved by budget committee, were resolutions making appropriations to the following:
• Various funds, departments, institutions, offices and agencies of Chester County;
• Non-profit charitable associations of Chester County;
• Resolution funding Chester County Fire Department;
• Funding to Chester County Schools Federal Projects Fund.
Budget Committee Chairman Ann Moore addressed the Commission and those in the audience, expressing gratitude to all involved in preparing this year’s budget. Moore noted that while there is not a large fund balance in this budget, there is no tax increase and several points of interest were achieved.
“We have come up with a budget that everyone should be pleased with, I think. I’d like to thank the budget committee for doing all the hard work, the advisement committee, the mayor, the department heads and especially Heather, who have all put in so much time and effort.
“Everybody worked together. We reduced the budget as much as possible as well as some of the departments helped us with funding for general - and all this working together made it possible for the budget to be where it is, with also giving employee raises. We negotiated with the ambulance service…where we could stick with them, some people were worried about that. We got that to where it should be. We met the maintenance of effort on everything…and all this with no tax increase. I’m so proud of this and proud of all who made it possible, I thank everybody and God for letting us get it done.”
The Commission approved a new Solid Waste department contract with Barker Brothers Waste, Inc., as Republic Services of Union City, for trucking and landfill which outlined one-year terms for trucking with the hopes of a grant approval for a transfer station. Commissioners also approved lowest bid by Sydell, Inc. for livestock panels at the Fairgrounds’ agricultural complex. The Fairgrounds’ panels were bid at $35,455, which will be completely covered by a grant, at no cost to the county.
