Recent tax rises a major theme at Doylestown supervisor candidate forum

Three Doylestown Township supervisor hopefuls gathered to speak at the Pine Run Village retirement community on Monday evening for a candidates’ forum that was, by some measures, exceedingly tame. Republican Joe Van Houten recalled an understanding he and Democratic incumbent Dan Wood reached earlier this year that their campaigns would avoid negativity. 

“We were going to make sure that this campaign was above-board and that it was about the issues,” he remembered at the forum hosted by The Bucks County Herald and moderated by its editor in chief John Anastasi. 

The two, along with Wood’s running mate Christina Maida, held to that accord, uttering no invective or even mild gruffness. (Van Houten’s running mate Colleen Brophy Brennan could not attend the event due to an obligation elsewhere.) Still, the GOP contender got across a salient point: The Board of Supervisors has overseen massive tax increases since the township became majority-Democrat in 2023. 

Over the last two years, the board has hiked real estate taxes 37%, far outpacing inflation. A chart Van Houten placed on an easel noted township budgets currently project property taxes to reach 56% by 2030 above their levels seven years earlier. That’s an increase from less than sixteen mills to nearly 24 mills. (A mill amounts to $1 in tax per $1,000 of assessed property value.) 

“One of the things I would work on as a supervisor would be: How can we make Doylestown Township affordable for all the residents that currently live here and those that want to be able to call this fabulous town home?” said Van Houten, an import services company chief executive who has served on numerous local boards. “And part of the start with that is to take a look at the current budget [as well as] future budgets, start reining in spending, and [be] able to, again, address the affordability for people who want to be able to live here in the township. We shouldn’t be able to continue to raise taxes year after year.”

The township calculates that its 3.695 mill increase last December grew the average household’s tax burden by about $150. While that may not sound like much, it comes atop tax bills in a municipality known for having many pricey homes. 

Wood, a software engineer first elected supervisor in 2019, voted in favor of the tax rises of which Van Houten complained. Maida, who works in investment operations at the wealth advisory firm Pitcairn, backed the most recent 20% hike as a member of the township’s finance committee. Wood pushed back on Van Houten’s account of past tax increases insofar as recent hikes had some GOP support and earlier Republican majorities also raised taxes. Recent prior increases were, however, more gradual. 

The incumbent also cited major costs, particularly a new township building and a newly opened community center, as begetting a need for new revenue. 

“That costs money,” he said.

He added that the township spent heavily to improve roads recently, addressing a municipal road system he called a “laughingstock.” Doylestown Democrats have lately vaunted capital spending that has permitted numerous road repairs, though a drive down Beulah Road, Butler Avenue, or the township-governed portion of Limekiln Road reveals lingering stretches of disrepair, even as capital spending declines.

The three attending candidates all concurred that their township faces a major affordability challenge that makes it difficult for some working-class individuals and families to move in, though Wood and Maida suggested focusing on housing prices rather than taxes.

“I believe it’s a lot more than just taxes,” Wood opined. “It’s addressing that we have an adequate supply of housing.” 

He and his running mate suggested adjusting zoning rules to facilitate the building of apartments and other smaller living spaces. Maida said she has neighbors whose daughter works as an emergency room nurse and who would “love to buy her own house and lay down roots here too.” 

“She can’t afford it yet,” Maida lamented. “I think a great way that we can support people like that is through having our zoning code allowing for that apartment above the detached garage so that your child or maybe your grandchildren can be on your property and kind of have their own life and lay down roots and save some money while serving our communities as nurses, as aid workers, and things like that.” 

Van Houten, however, described the changes recommended by the Democrats as “spot zoning” that’s “not necessarily fair to the neighbors.” He suggested the township enjoys a variety of housing types that are nonetheless rendered more expensive by taxation.

Bradley Vasoli is the senior editor of The Independence.