Doylestown Borough. Photo by James Short.
Doylestown Borough Council voted to adopt the borough’s 2026 budget, approving a spending plan that includes a property tax increase along with higher parking fees and fines to address a projected operating deficit tied largely to regional police costs.
According to borough officials, a $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 close that gap, council approved a combination of revenue increases affecting property taxes, parking meters, and parking violations .
Under the adopted budget, the general purposes millage increases by 0.5 mills, bringing the borough’s total millage to 21.84 mills for 2026. The current millage stood at 21.34 mills.
Borough officials said the average homeowner will pay $674.86 in total borough real estate taxes in 2026, an increase of $15.45 over the prior year. Despite the increase, the borough emphasized that its portion of a resident’s overall real estate tax bill remains relatively small.
“The Doylestown Borough Real Estate Tax continues to be the smallest portion of a Borough homeowner’s overall Real Estate Tax bill,” borough documents state, accounting for 11.15% of total real estate taxes paid .
Councilman Bob Kinney commended Township Manager John Davis and Assistant Manager/Director of Finance Caroline Brinker and staff for the work they put into the budget document.
“This is really a long term process that kind of starts almost after the beginning of a fiscal year. And so it really is commendable that the work that they did. I think the budget that we hopefully will adopt tonight is very appropriate to this community,” Kinney said. “We do the right thing. We’ve managed to hold the line on increases in taxes and things like that, but we did have to come up with some additional revenues for a variety of purposes, and we did so, in my view, very prudently and with a lot of thoughtfulness for the citizens of this community. So, I'm happy to support it.”
Parking fees and fines
Council also approved increases to parking-related fees, another key revenue source for the borough. Hourly parking meter and lot fees will rise from $1.50 to $1.75 per hour, while the expired parking meter fine increases from $20 to $25.
Borough officials said the new rates place Doylestown roughly at the regional average for hourly parking and at the low end of the region for expired meter fines, even after the increase .
Water rates and infrastructure costs
While water rates are expected to remain below regional averages, residents will see an increase in their quarterly bills. The average household water bill will rise by $7.08 per quarter in 2026, driven by higher chemical and electric costs, drought-related expenses, and continued investment in water treatment infrastructure.
The borough is also preparing for long-term costs associated with PFOS/PFAS remediation and new EPA lead regulations. Despite receiving a $6 million Pennvest grant and low-interest loan, borough officials estimate an additional $5 million in costs over the next five years, along with higher operating expenses for water treatment .
The 2026 budget takes effect Jan. 1.
