Let’s fix multi-county school tax discrepancies

Same district, different school tax calculations? 🧮 Yep. That’s currently the case in UCFSD.

But a quiet piece of legislation in Harrisburg solving multi-county school tax discrepancies could be the single biggest thing to happen to our property tax bills in years. Here’s what it is, why it matters, and what you can do right now.

If you live in Chadds Ford Township and your kids go to Unionville-Chadds Ford School District (UCFSD), did you know that your neighbor a few miles away in Pocopson or Pennsbury Townships — same district, same school, same budget — pays school taxes calculated on an entirely different basis than you do?

Some convoluted and competing state requirements make allocation of school taxes across county lines a very messy and sometimes unfair calculation. Over long periods, these discrepancies may sort themselves out. But from year to year, the conflicting taxation requirements that impact multi-county school districts can create volatility, unpredictability, and short-term unfairness among taxpayers in one school district but in different counties. 

It’s worth noting that the unfairness isn’t consistently in favor of either party. It’s just a crazy-town calculation that sparks uncomfortable and unnecessary short-term surprises. 🫨

A bipartisan bill now moving through the Pennsylvania legislature could fix it. Let’s dive in and discuss what you can do to help make it better. 

Multi-county school tax for UCFSD: the basics

In Pennsylvania, property values are assessed at the county level. But school districts don’t follow county lines. Unionville-Chadds Ford School District spans both Chester County and Delaware County. Most of the district sits in Chester County. Our little enclave of Chadds Ford Township is the lone Delaware County municipality in the mix.

Each county decides when to reassess property values. There’s no statewide requirement. Counties can go decades without updating the tax value assessments that inform property tax calculations, and many do.

Delaware County completed a court-ordered countywide property reassessment in 2020, with updated values taking effect in 2021. Every property in Delaware County now has a tax assessment value that reflects something close to its current market value. 🪙

Chester County last conducted a countywide reassessment effective for 1998¹. Nearly thirty years ago! The fashion trends from 1998 have already been recycled and thrown out a second time since that reassessment. 👖 

That means Chester County property assessments (at least for older homes) are based on those homes’ values from almost three decades ago. Newer homes whose tax values were determined at the time of construction likely have tax assessment values closer to their current market values. 

This discrepancy in the timing of property value assessments creates challenges in allocating school taxes across multiple counties within a single budget. In Pennsylvania, 88 multi-county school districts, including UCFSD, are impacted by this messy taxation situation. 

If you’re into 30+ line run-on sentences describing mathematical calculations in legislative language, check out the current calculation method² as described in the Public School Code of 1949. 😩 Or don’t, because it’s a doozy. And be glad that the job belongs to the UCFSD Director of Finance, Joe Deady, and not you or me. Sorry Joe. Thanks to you and your team for making the math math. 🙏🏻

The apples-to-oranges budget split

Every year, UCFSD sets its total school budget and allocates it between its two county portions — Chester County and Delaware County — based on each county’s share of the district’s total assessed property value.

Because Delaware County’s assessments are current (2020 market values) and Chester County’s are mostly frozen at 1990s “butterfly-hairclips-were-cool 🦋” levels (IYKYK), Delaware County properties appear significantly more valuable “on paper” than Chester County properties, even when actual market values might be comparable. So Delaware County’s share of the budget looks higher than it “should” be when measured against today’s real world. The base tax value assessments use an “apples 🍎 to oranges 🍊” comparison (2020 vs. 1998). 

To compensate, the district performs a convoluted (by law, not by choice ⚖️) artificial rebalancing act. It sets two different millage (or mill) rates³ using the aforementioned crazy method, informed by state law and related state-issued guidance. 

💭 I don’t understand the calculation, and I was a CPA for 15 years. 🤓 We’re cooked. 

In practice, this means that the UCFSD Finance Team sets a higher mill rate for Chester County (where assessed values are artificially low) and a lower one for Delaware County (where assessed values more closely reflect the real market). 

In the 2025-26 budget, Chester County residents paid a 33.91 millage rate, while Delaware County (i.e., Chadds Ford) residents paid a 19.25 millage rate. For the 2026-27 budget, the proposed mill rates for Chester County and Delaware County are 34.95% and 20.21%,⁴ respectively. 

Those two rates are an attempt to make the effective tax burden roughly equivalent. But “roughly” is the operative word. The more the two counties drift apart in their assessment age, the harder it gets to balance, and the more jarring the year-to-year swings can be.

Here’s a simple example of the math

Let’s say the district needs to raise $10 million total from its two counties. It looks at its total assessed property base and determines that 80% of that assessed value sits in Chester County and 20% sits in Delaware County. So it allocates $8 million to Chester County and $2 million to Delaware County.

Chester County’s assessed values are based on 1998 prices, while Delaware County’s are based on 2020 prices. If you could magically update 🪄 Chester County’s assessments to today’s market values, you might find that Chester County actually represents 85% of the real market value, not 80%. In this theoretical and simplified example, the district is essentially asking Delaware County residents to shoulder a larger share of the budget than they “should” based on real property values, while Chester County residents shoulder a smaller share.

Here’s where the artificial balancing act takes center stage. 

Information and analysis from the State Tax Equalization Board (STEB) help affected districts allocate tax burdens more fairly within multi-county school districts. Despite the wide range of base-year tax-value assessments, which make direct “apples-to-apples” comparisons and equivalent millage rates essentially impossible, STEB’s market value reports and common level ratio reports attempt to help district financial offices (Deady and his crew at UCFSD) to compensate for these variances. But the calculations are complicated and messy. 

We don’t need to know how our fridge or our routers work to know that they work. Similarly, we don’t really need to understand the mechanics of the calculation to know that it’s a hot mess. Past experience shows that the existing calculation model is complicated and produces unpopular, unexpected swings in tax rates.

In Chadds Ford, we felt the jarring impact of disparate tax assessment periods a few years ago, when the 2020 reassessment took effect. When Delaware County reassessed in 2020, the assessed values jumped significantly. Suddenly, the Delaware County slice of the UCFSD budget pie looked bigger. Consequently, the district allocated more of its budget to Delaware County, and Chadds Ford property owners saw an 11% increase in a single year (2024), while Chester County residents saw only a 2% increase that year.

The school district didn’t raise its budget by 11%. A budget increase of 11% in one year is generally not allowed under the Act 1 Index limitation, and the overall budget increase for 2024 was 3.99%, below the 5% Act 1 limit for that year. Instead, the math behind how that budget is split between the two counties shifted dramatically.

In the proposed 2026-27 budget, the disparities continue, though with greater parity. School taxes will increase by 3.07% for Chester County residents and 4.99% for Delaware County residents. This reflects an overall weighted-average increase of 3.47%, below the 3.5% Act 1 Index threshold for the year and less than the year-over-year inflation of 3.8%, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics as of April 2026. 

Reminder: Sometimes the discrepancy swings the other way, favoring Delco over Chesco. The issue isn’t a battle between counties; it’s the unpredictability of the calculations and the district’s inability to legally take any action to make the allocation fairer within a given year.

The proposed legislation seeks to streamline this process and equalize the financial burdens among taxpayers. More on how that works below. 👇🏻

Multi-county school district proposed legislation updates

Senate Bill 791 was introduced by Senator John Kane (9th District) and co-sponsored by Senator Carolyn Comitta (19th District), along with other Democratic and Republican senators outside of UCFSD.

The companion House Bill, HB 2247, has been co-sponsored by Representative Christina Sappey (158th District), among several other Democratic and Republican co-sponsors. Representative Craig Williams (160th District) has not co-sponsored the legislation yet, so he appears to still be on the fence about it. 

Importantly, this legislation has bipartisan support in both chambers. Taxpayer fairness doesn’t have a party affiliation.

Here’s what the bills would do, in plain language:

Under current law, a multi-county school district must allocate its budget between counties based on each county’s share of assessed property value — the apples-to-oranges comparison described above. That’s the only option. 

Under the proposed legislation, multi-county school districts could continue business as usual. But they would have the option (not a mandate) to instead allocate the change in their budget equally across all taxpayers in the district, regardless of which county they live in. One district, one tax rate adjustment, regardless of which county you live in.

The new alternative provides a much simpler option to allocate taxation changes more fairly. It’s the approach UCFSD and many other affected districts would likely choose. Every property owner in the district would receive the same percentage-based change, year over year. If UCFSD requires a 2% increase to meet the new budget, everyone sees a 2% increase in their school tax bill. No funky, unfair, and convoluted allocations from year to year. 

This is budget-neutral. It doesn’t raise the overall amount of taxes the district collects. It just distributes that amount more fairly and predictably among all taxpayers.

One significant additional benefit: under the current system, when the county-by-county split produces a large swing — like Chadds Ford’s 11% jump in 2024 — that swing can exceed Pennsylvania’s Act 1 index, which normally caps how much school districts can raise taxes year over year without voter approval. The imbalanced allocation can force a district to exceed the Act 1 limit in one county, even when the overall budget increase remains under that limit. The new legislation would help keep those swings within bounds.

Who’s been pushing this forward?

This legislation is the result of years of advocacy by school districts and professional organizations that have been living with this problem up close.

Unionville-Chadds Ford School District has been among the most active voices pushing for this change. They’ve been quiet yet persistent advocates with detailed institutional knowledge from painstakingly managing a two-county budget year after year. The district’s school board and business office have worked to build the case and build the coalition.

UCFSD School Board member, Jody Allen, said:

Fixing the existing multi-county school tax issue is currently our single biggest legislative priority as a school board. We’ve been working with the UCFSD administration and our representatives in Harrisburg to reform this unpredictable and inequitable tax issue. To be clear, this wouldn’t reduce the overall district property tax, but it would reduce uncertainty and the possibility of large differences in tax rates across our two counties. 

The existing issue also creates a disincentive for residents to invest in their community because any significant increase in property value, such as new housing or large businesses, will result in owing a larger portion of the district tax unless there’s an equivalent increase in property value in the other county of UCFSD. While Chadds Ford residents have born the heavier costs for the past few years, that could suddenly change if there’s a spike in Chester County property values. Therefore, it’s in all of our best interests to support this reform and have more predictable and equitable tax rates throughout the UCFSD community.

The Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials (PASBO) and the Pennsylvania School Boards Association (PSBA) have both been advocating for this legislation. 

Senators John Kane and Carolyn Comitta, along with their legislative teams, have been the driving forces in Harrisburg to bring this to the finish line. They have put in the sustained, unglamorous work of crafting bill language, building co-sponsor support, and navigating two chambers of the legislature. 

Call to action to move this forward

There are 88 multi-county school districts in Pennsylvania, out of approximately 500 total. This problem affects many communities beyond ours.

After more than a year of waiting in limbo, this legislation is now active and could move relatively quickly, as it has garnered growing support from a broad coalition in Harrisburg. But, as with all things in the capital city, momentum and constituent voices matter. Our representatives need to hear from us to know that it matters. 

Here’s where you can take action

Take five minutes and send notes to your respective legislators. Depending on where you live in UCFSD, your Pennsylvania State Senator might be John Kane or Carolyn Comitta. From the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, your Representative is either Craig Williams or Christina Sappey.

🔎 Hint: If you’re not sure who your representatives are, head to Find My Legislator for Pennsylvania. Type in your address, and the system will tell you the names of your state and federal representatives. 

Of course, if you live in Pennsylvania and outside of UCFSD but still want to see this legislation pass, contact your local representatives with similar messages. This is a state-wide effort, so advocacy through any state senators or representatives matters.

Senate Bill 791 

As I noted above, Senator John Kane is the sponsor of Senate Bill 791 (the version of the bill moving through the Senate). Senator Carolyn Comitta is already signed on as a co-sponsor. In both cases, you can use the following letters (scroll to the bottom) as templates or starting points to thank them for their support. 

It’s important for them to be able to share with others in Harrisburg that they’re hearing from constituents that this bill matters. It’s also just nice to get a ‘thank you’ from time to time in a position where gratitude is rarely offered (and complaints are abundant). 

House Bill 2247

Representative Christina Sappey has also signed on as a co-sponsor to the House version of this bill. For the reasons noted above, let her know you appreciate her support and hope the bill passes so it can be signed by Governor Shapiro… sooner rather than later. 

If you’re in District 160, represented by Craig Williams, reach out to let him know that you hope he co-sponsors House Bill 2247. He has yet to sign on as a co-sponsor to offer his support. I’m not sure what’s holding up his co-sponsorship, but hopefully a healthy dose of nudges from his constituents will change his tune. 

You can send a message of support via email, phone, or snail mail. Because it requires a little extra effort and the cost of a stamp (and maybe because it literally piles up in their offices 📄 and is harder to ignore), snail mail ✉️ is the most effective method of influence. If you can’t drop a paper letter in the mail, send an email or make a phone call to let your representatives know where you stand. 

I’ve included sample letters below. Feel free to use them as is or adapt them to your own voice.

The final word on multi-county school tax considerations

Pennsylvania’s property tax system for school districts is complicated, county-by-county, and in many places, wildly out of date. The proposed legislation (SB 791 and HB 2247) to address the multi-county school tax problem solves one specific piece of that puzzle.

This legislation doesn’t overhaul the whole system, and it doesn’t raise taxes. It gives school districts in communities like ours a better option that treats every taxpayer in the district the same, regardless of which side of a county line they happen to live on.

That seems pretty fair. If you’re on board, be sure to let your representatives know. Even better, share this article with a neighbor so they can decide whether to support the bills and, hopefully, encourage their representatives to push for passage in Harrisburg, too! 💛

Sample letters to state senators and representatives

I’ve included information below to help you connect with your local senator and representative. You can check out their websites for more information. I’ve also included a downloadable Word document template for a letter to each elected official.

Click or tap that download button, and you’re more than halfway there!

Quick note to save you some time: Just send notes to those who represent you. No need to overload the inboxes and mailboxes of those who do not represent your district.

Senator John Kane

• Website: Contact information
• Harrisburg Address: 458 Main Capitol Building, Senate Box 203009, Harrisburg, PA 17120-3009
• Phone: 717-787-4712

Template for Letter to Senator John Kane 👇🏻

Senator Carolyn Comitta

• Website: Contact information
• Harrisburg Address: 457 Main Capitol Building, Senate Box 203019, Harrisburg, PA 17120-3019
• Phone: (717) 787-5709

Template for Letter to Senator Carolyn Comitta 👇🏻

Representative Christina Sappey

• Website: Contact information
• Local Address: Willowdale Town Center, 698 Unionville Rd, Kennett Square, PA 19348-1704
• Phone: 484-200-8264

Template for Letter to Representative Christina Sappey 👇🏻

Representative Craig Williams

• Website: Contact information
• Harrisburg Address: 3 East Wing, P.O. Box 202160, Harrisburg, PA 17120-2160
• Phone: 717-783-3038

Template for Letter to Representative Craig Williams 👇🏻

1. As noted in their Chester County Assessment FAQ, which states “The assessor derives the assessment by gathering the data on the new construction and using the computer-assisted mass appraisal model established prior to the last countywide reassessment, which was effective for 1998.” ↩︎
2. See the “Current Text” PDF on this page for the existing legislative language and underlined proposed modifications. One hot second of review will explain why simplification is necessary. ↩︎
3. “The mill rate, or millage rate, is a financial tool used to calculate property taxes, representing the amount of tax per $1,000 of assessed property value.” per Investopedia ↩︎
4. As discussed at the May 4, 2026, UCFSD Budget Hearing. ↩︎