A 32.5% property tax increase approved Thursday by Westmoreland County commissioners was necessary, they said, to balance the county’s 2024 budget while allowing the county to preserve some fiscal reserves.
Commissioners cited spiraling costs to pay off existing debt, increases in the cost of health benefits for employees and added contributions to workers’ pension accounts as core challenges in building the $456.7 million spending plan.
The tax increase is the first since a 2.4% hike in 2019 and only the second time since 2005 that the county raised its property tax.
Source: Westmoreland commissioners blame past fiscal neglect in approving 32.5% tax hike
