Doylestown Borough preliminary 2026 budget will increase taxes and fees

An extraordinary $356,785 increase in Doylestown Borough’s share of the Central Bucks Regional Police Department’s 2026 Budget created a $292,498 Operating Deficit in the Borough’s General Fund. To address this deficit, the 2026 Preliminary General Fund Budget includes property tax, parking fee, and parking fine increases.

The millage for General Purposes will increase 0.5 mills in 2026. The average homeowner will pay $674.86 in total Borough Real Estate taxes in 2026, an increase of $15.45.

The Doylestown Borough Real Estate Tax continues to be the smallest portion of a Borough homeowner’s overall Real Estate Tax bill, accounting for 11.15% of the total taxes paid.

In addition, parking meter and lot fees will increase from $1.50 per hour to $1.75 per hour, and the expired parking meter fine will increase from $20 to $25.

The new $1.75 meter fee places the Borough at roughly the regional average while the new $25 expired meter fine is equivalent to the lowest in the region.

Although water rates are expected to remain below the regional average, the average

quarterly household water bill will increase by $7.08 in 2026 as the Borough deals with rising chemical, electric, and drought-related costs and continues to take steps to address the nationwide PFOS/PFAS contamination crisis, and EPA’s stringent new lead regulations. Despite the receipt of a $6 million Pennvest Grant and low-interest loan, the Borough’s cost to fund PFOS/PFAS and lead remediation is estimated to cost an additional $5 million over the next five years with significant increases in operating expenses for water treatment to follow.

The Preliminary 2026 Budget Message can be found here.

The Adopted 2026 Preliminary Budget can be found here.