Council Mulls Tax Increase for 2022

The Swarthmore Borough Council met on Tuesday, October 11, at 7:30 p.m. The meeting, which lasted just under an hour, was preceded and followed by closed-door executive sessions on an undisclosed legal matter that involves the borough.

The primary business was to decide how to respond to the imminent expiration of the borough’s contract with Davey TreeKeeper Software, which maintains Swarthmore’s street-tree census data. Two public commenters advocated for renewing the contract, which would cost $2,500. 

Council member Ross Schmucki expressed concern about the increased costs that the borough has incurred as a result of requests for help from nonprofit organizations, such as the Swarthmore Fire and Protection Association and EMS, the police, the public library, and Swarthmore Town Center. Swarthmore Borough has not had a public tax increase for seven years, and is currently considering increasing it in 2022 by a minimum of 3% per household.

Mr. Schmucki moved to table the decision on the TreeKeeper contract, but the motion was not seconded, and the council unanimously approved renewing the contract at a cost of $2,500.

Brian Garfinkel was appointed to a six-year term on the Civil Service Commission; his appointment was unanimously approved.

The council also unanimously approved awarding Republic Services the contract to provide recycling services to the borough in 2022. 

Council member Betsy Larsen was absent from the meeting.