Chester presents 2025 budget with no property tax increase, $50 rubbish fee hike and expanded delinquent-collection push

City of Chester — At a public hearing on Dec. 9, 2024, Chief Financial Officer Richard Troutman presented the City of Chester’s proposed 2025 budget, saying it includes no increases to the real estate or library tax rates, adds eight cadet positions to public safety staffing and raises the annual rubbish fee by $50 to $350 per household.

Troutman said the budget balances general fund revenues and expenses “before the unpaid prior year pension costs” and highlighted several constraints city staff faced while preparing the plan. “There are no real estate or library tax increases proposed in this budget,” Troutman said in his opening remarks.

The budget summary outlined why the city made those choices: Chester will have roughly $6.9 million less to work with than the prior year, Troutman said, and the budget reflects cost reductions, deferred capital and targeted use of grants. He told the hearing that a combination of a lower Commonwealth cash-flow loan (the TRAN), lower anticipated grant receipts in some areas and continued pension and legal obligations produced that gap. “We had $6,900,000 less to work with next year than this year,” he said.

Nut graf — why this matters: The budget balances without increasing property taxes, but keeps residents facing a higher annual…