Slide showing North Wales Borough’s proposed tax millage for 2026 and allocation of mills across various funds, as presented to council in November 2026. (Image courtesy of North Wales Borough)
Final vote for tax hike slated for Dec. 23
A 2026 budget for North Wales, including a tax increase, is now one vote away.
Council members voted to adopt the 2026 budget, discussed at length in council meetings over the past several weeks.
“Two meetings ago, we had a discussion about including a one-mill tax increase, which means we have to advertise an ordinance for that,” said council President Mark Tarlecki.
Talks started in October on the 2026 budget, when borough Manager Christine Hart warned of dropping revenues from real estate transfer taxes and interest earnings, and presented a first draft of the budget based on a real estate tax millage rate of 7.0 mills, which was last raised in late 2023 for 2024. As talks continued with members of the town’s finance committee, costs came into focus on increased electric rates that could hit the town in the upcoming year, pending police retirements that could require retirement payouts and hiring costs, and a request from Hatfield-based ambulance corps VMSC-EMS for steady funding from all local towns they serve.
In November the manager presented an updated budget with a one-mill tax increase, which would add roughly $100,000 in new revenue and for the average assessed property value of $129,800, cause an increase in their annual tax bill from $885 to $1,038, a hike of $153 for the year or just under $13 per month.
Details of that budget were included in council’s Dec. 9 meeting packet, and Tarlecki asked for one last round of public debate or feedback before a formal vote from council to adopt it.
“This is the biggie. We’ve had previous discussion on this, I think we understand what’s happening with the 2026 budget. Is there any final discussion, any final comments, before we approve?” he said.
After a unanimous vote, he then asked for a motion to advertise the 2026 tax ordinance with the one-mill tax increase, and the group also voted unanimously to do so; that ordinance could be adopted in the last council meeting of the year on Dec. 23, Tarlecki and Hart said.
Several other year-end items were also approved unanimously, including 2026 schedules for holidays that will close borough offices, and for public meetings for various boards and commissions including borough council. All meetings will likely adhere to their previous dates and times as in prior years, according to the manager, in contrast to 2025 where council meetings were held on back-to-back weeks in November due to election day being followed by Veteran’s Day that month.
The manager and council president also previewed several topics of discussion for the upcoming year: the Montgomery County Planning Commission presented in November on an update to the town’s subdivision and land ordinance, and that update will likely be posted publicly in January for more public input before further talks.
Tarlecki added one more topic to tackle: in October he tasked council members with studying whether the town should look into requiring permits for mass gatherings in local parks, after residents organized a vigil at Weingartner Park in September that drew hundreds of visitors and concerns from nearby residents.
“If that committee has the analysis done, please submit it to me. We will reopen it — we’re not going to have the discussion on the 23rd, but we’re going to do this at the start of next year sometime,” Tarlecki said.
North Wales borough council next meets at 7 p.m. on Nov. 25 at the borough municipal building, 300 School Street; for more information, visit www.NorthWalesBorough.org.
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