A Delco Open Space referendum on your November ballot

Delaware County voters will decide on Nov. 3 whether to fund up to $120 million in land conservation and open space projects. Before rushing to judgment, let’s discuss the facts.

Don’t miss the last question on your ballot this election season. 🗳️ On the right side of your ballot, next to the races for governor, Congress, and state House (General Assembly), Delaware County residents will vote on a countywide open space funding question that could shape the county for decades.

Quick summary: The referendum proposes a potential tax increase of (on average) $24 per taxpayer per year to preserve open space in Delaware County. Research shows the tax increase may actually save money elsewhere in the budget and more than pay for itself.

Also, Chadds Ford received $4.09 in funding for every $1.00 we paid into taxes for the last tranche of open space funding from Delaware County (details below). Not a bad deal!

Be sure to read on before jumping to a quick “no more taxes” position. It might be more of an investment than a cost. 🌳 Heck! Maybe some of the funding could buy and preserve the land parcel at Ridge Rd and 202. It’s possible!

What’s on the ballot?

Voters will decide whether the county can borrow up to $120 million through municipal bonds over the next ten years for land conservation. That money would protect drinking water sources, rivers and creeks, wildlife habitat, trees that improve air quality, and wetlands that prevent flooding. It would also fund greenways, parks, and natural areas threatened by development. Passage of the referendum would require public disclosure and annual independent audits of the borrowing.

Here’s what your ballot will look like in Chadds Ford. 👇🏻 The northeast and southwest precincts in Chadds Ford have the same ballots for this election. (Note: If you’re in a neighboring township, you can find your Delaware County sample ballot here. This doesn’t apply to our Chester County neighbors.) The referendum question is on the right side of the ballot.

How the Delco open space referendum ended up on the ballot

We’ve had county-funded open space programs for decades, but the current funding program recently ran out. The County conducted the Delaware County Greenways Finance Feasibility Study to assess options for restarting a similar program.

According to the July 17, 2026, Delaware County Digest, “The study, which was done alongside the Trust for Public Land, Natural Lands, and the Nature Conservancy, was conducted to determine the optimal way to acquire funding for land conservation, open space, and natural area protection.”

The study recommended the municipal bond option to fund investments in green spaces and suggested putting it to voters via a referendum as the best way to decide whether to move forward.

What a “yes” vote does

A yes vote doesn’t spend anything right away. It gives Delaware County Council permission to borrow. If more than half of voters approve, Council has 10 years to issue municipal bonds, and it can choose how much to borrow and when, up to the $120 million cap.

What would it cost us?

Council member Elaine Paul Schaefer said that if the county borrows the full $120 million, the average household would pay less than $24 a year. The county would cover that cost through property taxes. Residents have already absorbed three straight years of county tax increases, including a 19% hike in this year’s budget, but the pure economic benefits of the open space investment may outweigh the costs.

Does green space pay for itself?

Delaware County studied this and issued its 2022 Return on Environment report, which analyzed about 101,000 single-family home sales from 2000 to 2020. The report found that green space funding looks more like an investment than a cost. Green space in a community increases property values, reduces medical costs, provides recreational activities, and creates significant economic benefits.

According to the study, homes within a half mile of protected open space were, on average, worth $4,500 more than comparable homes farther away. Across the county, that adds up to $689 million in added home value.

Property values aren’t the only return. According to the same study, Delco’s existing protected open space:

• saves about $6.2 million a year in stormwater system maintenance
• saves $74.4 million a year in stormwater pollutant removal costs
• avoided $46.5 million in stormwater construction that would otherwise have been needed
• provides $142.6 million in annual recreation benefits to residents,
• avoids $153.4 million in medical costs annually

Open space also reduces government spending on local services. Chester County performed a similar study and found that for every $1 local governments collect in residential land taxes, they spend $1.11 on services. For farmland and open space, they spend 7 cents per dollar collected. Undeveloped land is far less expensive for municipalities to serve.

Land that stays open doesn’t add students to schools, miles of road to plow, or roads and stormwater systems to maintain. While the tax increase may seem costly, it will likely save money elsewhere and more than pay for itself.

Government funding draws private funding

County conservation money rarely works alone. For open space projects and conservation, government funding is often one piece of a project that land trusts, foundations, and state and federal programs contribute to as well. Thus, investing our local dollars in green space brings more dollars into our community from other sources, and the benefits accrue to all of us.

This has already happened in Delaware County. The Greenways Grant Program, the previous countywide green space funding mechanism launched in 2019, invested $16.8 million in county funds in trails, parks, and preservation. That money drew in more than $33.7 million in outside funding, about $2 in outside funding for every county dollar, across 118 grants. Those grants funded stream restoration, stormwater fixes, native plantings, and park improvements. The money ran out, and the county proposes this bond program to restart a replacement program.

How can Chadds Ford benefit?

💰 Chadds Ford has already benefited greatly from countywide green space funding programs. The Greenways Grant Program (2019-2023) sent $1.1 million to Chadds Ford, a much larger share than our pro-rata allocation based on Chadds Ford’s estimated property values compared to Delaware County overall (see chart below).

Brinton Run Preserve

The Greenways Grant Program funded $500,000 toward purchasing and conserving Brinton Run Preserve. The North American Land Trust (NALT) raised $3.85 million to buy the property. The American Battlefield Trust, Chadds Ford Township, Delaware County’s Open Space and Recreation Grant Program, Mt. Cuba Center, and DCNR also helped fund the project.

The largest single piece was a $1.8 million federal American Battlefield Protection Program grant, one of the largest that program has awarded for a Revolutionary War site. The county’s $500,000 represented about 13% of the deal.

Walkable Chadds Ford

Walkable Chadds Ford received $600,000 from the same program through two separate grants. The project received $2.6 million in state and federal grants alongside the county’s $600,000, about $4.30 for every county dollar invested.

Note: The Brandywine Conservancy, the William Penn Foundation, and the township separately funded earlier feasibility work. The final project budget hasn’t been published because the work isn’t quite complete.

These projects are great examples of bringing outside funding to Chadds Ford to conserve our green spaces and pairing county funds with money from several other sources to make the most of every dollar.

Outsized return on investment for Chadds Ford

Chadds Ford’s amount of open space makes us likely to be a disproportionate beneficiary of open space conservation and project funding. This proved true with the Greenways Grant Program.

💥 Through the Greenways Grant Program, Chadds Ford received $4.09 of Delaware County funding for every $1 of taxes* we paid toward the grant program.

	Chadds Ford	Total
Greenways Grant Project Funding	$1.1 million (6.5% of total)	$16.8 million
Est. % of Total Delco Assessed Value	1.6%	100%
Pro-rata share of total grant funds (based on est. assessment)	$268,800*	$16.8 million
Excess received over paid (from Greenways Grant program)	$831,200	N/A
Total $ from Greenways Grant program received per $1 paid in taxes by Chadds Ford taxpayers	$4.09*	N/A

* I backed into these amounts assuming the grant program was funded through county taxes (i.e., mills on property assessments) and based on the 2026 Delaware County budgeted tax revenue, 4.609 mills tax rate, and Chadds Ford’s property assessments.

🤫 Maybe don’t tell our Delco neighbors? I’m kidding. According to Councilmember Elaine Paul Schaefer, “All of our municipalities are anxiously and eagerly awaiting for us to re-fund this program because it was so successful.”

💭 Again… maybe this next tranche could have another chunk of funding for a special little space across the street from Whole Foods. 😉

Before you vote on the open space referendum

We know what green space is worth investing in. Save Ridge is a perfect example of what a missed investment opportunity feels like when it hits close to home. Open space:

• limits traffic growth
• saves tax dollars on government services needed for more developed land
• helps reduce flooding and restores ecosystems
• provides recreation
• and keeps our community beautiful.

No matter how you vote, read the full referendum question before Election Day, so you know the facts.

How much would you pay for all those benefits 👆🏻 in Chadds Ford? Is open space preservation in our county worth about $24 per year in additional taxes?

Polls are open Tuesday, Nov. 3, from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.