West Chester panel urges 3.4% tax hike

West Chester Borough Council’s finance committee Monday recommended council adopt a preliminary 2010 budget that calls for a 3.4 percent property tax increase. The preliminary budget would cause the average borough homeowner’s tax bill to rise to $689, an increase of $23 over last year’s average, officials said.

The average single-family home in the borough has an assessed value of $119,000, and the average tax increase was calculated using this figure, officials said. Borough Council is likely to pass a preliminary budget at its Nov. 18 meeting and pass the final budget in December. Finance committee members said that between now and December, borough administrators will try to reduce the real estate tax hike. But they warned the borough is facing financial difficulties that will likely make a tax hike inevitable.