Cops, Courts & Fire -Morrisville Borough
Morrisville Borough To Vote on EIT, Monday Night
The Morrisville Borough Council has scheduled a vote on whether to approve an Earned Income Tax on residents and non-residents for Monday nights’s council meeting.
In one sense, last months Council meeting was that rude awakening moment where past, present and future combined for a synergistic effect when it comes to the boroughs financial health and well being, as officials weighed the tax.
Council approved to begin advertising a Earned Income Tax (PA ACT 32) in a 4 to 3 vote last month.
The vote, at the time officials said, was only to advertise the proposed measure, which is required to happen three times after passage to advertise the change.
The borough advertised the ordinance on September 24, October 1 and October 8, in the The Times according to official documents.
The vote scheduled tonight’s meeting,is listed as item 9W.
The motion, however, does not list the a percentage to be imposed- which can top out at 1 percent according to state law for suburban municipalities outside Philadelphia.
Last year an attempt by council to enact a .5 percent EIT failed.
Council members Justin Bowers, Helen Hlahol, Mike Yager and Scott Robinson voted against levying the tax on residents and non-residents.
Robinson, in September told Lower Bucks Source, there is no way he could ever support approving an Earned Income Tax on borough residents.
“Its just crazy. Taxing our residents twice” he said “enough is enough.”
At the September Council meeting, Borough Manager Judith Danko, painted the not so pretty picture for the public and council when she detailed a pattern of borough spending from 2016 to present day.
Credit: Paid for by Sperry for Morrisville
She said, there has been a deficits from budgets between 2015 to 2021 from the information she pulled together;
In 2015, $185,500 over budget; in 2016, $118,790 over budget; in 2017 we had a windfall because we received several hundreds of thousands of dollars from Portonoff Law Associates. Those funds, she said, were used to try and balance the budget, but in 2018 there was again spending of more than $269,000 over budget, Danko said.
What this is showing me, is budget allocations are not in line with the real time spending, she said.
If this continues I won’t be able for example to hire any new police officers, or anyone for any borough related department anytime in the near future. There is no way for me to spend less and do more when it comes to all these projects we’re engaged in currently, she said. We have to come up with a thought process to put the plug in the hole – we have to put boundaries on it (EIT) once we’re there we can then ween ourselves off it.
There is a time constraint on us, that’s why I pushed to have this on the agenda for the (September) meeting. It has to be finalized by Dec 1 so Keystone Collections Group (KCG) could collect the data needed for implementation in 2022, she said. .
Councilman Justin Bowers inquired about implementing a local services tax, that would take take out $2,00 from the paychecks for example, of residents its applicable too.
Councilwoman Helen Hahlol concurred with Bowers on that idea, requesting additional information from the manager about the numbers involved-and the process of how that kind of taxation would work, Hahlol who voted against the EIT ordinance last year, was the only council member to change against the tax, in support of advertising the potential ordinance change.
I don’t mind advertising the ordinance, Hahlol said last month, but so far I’m not for it.
Council member’s in trying to get as much information as possible asked Danko what does the budget deficit look like for the end of the year so far.
Danko estimated it could be as much as $500,000.00. adding with what is available she didn’t think she could do a cheaper budget moving forward without an EIT implemented.
A representative for Keystone Collections Group, during the August council meeting said municipalities benefit from enacting EIT adding that instead of the tax being collected outside of the borough from where Morrisville residents are employed, the implementation of an EIT allows for those funds to be brought back to the area in which the employee lives.
The way the tax is setup, primarily it goes to the community where the individual resides. Its not a new tax, its shifting of tax already paid by working residents, the KCG spokesperson said,
Its hard to know exactly how much implementing the change will bring back to Morrisville, because we don’t have all the numbers for residents working in places such as Montgomery and Delaware Counties, the KCG official said. The data set is incomplete.
Bower’s on Sunday night, said on his official councilmen’s page he has seen documents setting the tax rate at 1 percent.
Borough officials said they would provide the public with more information on the tax how it will be applied and to whom it will be applied to at future meetings
Would this be tax increase for someone living in Morrisville not paying EIT, asked Robinson in August.
“Sure, yes” the Keystone official said
If we did a 1 percent EIT, that would about a $1600.00 increase in my tax bill said Robinson who does not pay the tax presently.
“If we went around raising everyone’s taxes $1500.00 we we would be hung or crucified down at the Getty” he said.
“If this isn’t enacted” said second ward Councilwoman Nancy Sherlock, “the borough is going to have to raise taxes.”
Copies of the full text of the proposed Ordinance are available for examination during normal business hours in the Township Administrative Offices, 35 Union Street, Morrisville, Pennsylvania during the hours of 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Anyone who wants to register an opinion on the tax before council votes is welcomed to sign up for the public comment section of the special meeting that begins at 7 p.m.
Editors Note: Multiple attempts to reach first ward councilman Duane Nicol for this story in September were unsuccessful.
Cops, Courts & Fire - Yardley Borough
County Cuts Ribbon on New Treatment Facility Focused on Stakeholders with Co-Occurring Disorders Involved in Criminal Justice System
Bucks County last month held a ribbon cutting ceremony to unveil the newly constructed Diversion, Assessment, Restoration and Treatment (DART) Center in Doylestown Township.
Expected to begin accepting residents this month, the 23,000 square-foot facility will serve adults with serious mental illness and co-occurring substance use issues who are involved with the criminal justice system.
“We have wanted to do something about this problem – to get people diverted from the criminal justice system,” said Commissioner Chair Diane Ellis-Marseglia, LCSW. “But one piece of the puzzle was missing. It was this place.”
Through treatment and skill development, the Center will operate with the goals of diverting people from incarceration, reducing days of incarceration, reducing utilization of State institutions and reducing recidivism.
The DART Center houses three distinct tracks within this Residential Treatment Center for Adults:
- Short-Term Assessment and Stabilization – A safe transitional opportunity assessment and referral (up to eight individuals)
- Restoration of Competency Unit – For individuals involved in the criminal justice system who have been deemed Incompetent to Stand Trial (up to four individuals)
- Community Integration – A space for individuals in need of treatment and daily living skill development to support movement to more independent living in the community (up to 16 individuals)
At full capacity, the DART can simultaneously serve up to 28 people.
Bucks County has hired the GEO Group to manage day-to-day operations at the DART Center, with oversight from Bucks County BH/DP.
“Right now, there’s a person, maybe more than one, who doesn’t even know that the DART Center exists. They are somewhere hard, in a cell somewhere, trying to get through another day [in a world] that has told them they’re too complicated to help,” said Dr. Mathew Abraham, Senior Director of Treatment and Program Development for GEO. “That person is going to find their way here, and when they do, they will walk through a door that says, ‘we see you, you are worth all of this.’”
Located on the grounds of the former Women’s Community Corrections Center, construction on the DART began in late 2023.
Credit: Submitted
The total projected cost to build the facility is about $19.8 million. The County has paid for the construction with a combination of mostly federal and state funds, with about $1.8 million coming from the County’s General Fund.
“Today marks an important milestone for Bucks County, because we are not simply opening a building,” said General Services Director Bernard Griggs. “We are opening a pathway to a more compassionate, affective approach to mental health and criminal justice.
General contracting work on the project was performed by Magnum, Inc., with architecture services by USA Architects, engineering by Carroll Engineering and Windward, electrical work by the Farfield Company, mechanical services by Integrity Mechanical, Inc., plumbing services by Vision Mechanical, fire protection work by Guy M. Cooper Mechanical and construction management by Jingoli.
Commissioner Vice Chair Bob Harvie, speaking to a crowd of County officials and community stakeholders gathered to mark the DART’s opening, reflected on the questions that drove the facility’s planning years before its construction.
“What could we do on this spot that could make a difference?” he said. “What can we do on this spot that has meaning for people who really need help at a time that might be the lowest in their lives, that serves a purpose, and helps law enforcement and the criminal justice system appropriately handle people who shouldn’t be in a prison, but end up there because there is nowhere else to go?”
The DART Center is just the latest effort by the County to improve mental health services for Bucks County residents, especially those whose illness brings them into contact with the criminal justice system.
One ongoing effort is the award-winning Human Services Co-Responders Program, which embeds social workers in police departments to assist officers when encountering people in need of social services. Since launching in 2020 with the Bensalem Police Department, the program has expanded to serve more than two dozen police departments countywide.
In partnership with the Bucks County Court of Common Pleas, the County has also established specialized court programs to address the unique needs of qualifying offenders, including Recovery Court, Wellness Court and Veterans Treatment Court. These programs have been nationally recognized and are instructive for similar programs across the country.
PHOTO: Jeff Contino, Director of the Diversion, Assessment, Restoration and Treatment (DART) Center, on Feb. 25, 2026, leads Bucks County District Attorney Joe Khan, Sheriff Danny Ceisler, Prothonotary Donna Petrecco and others in a tour of the newly completed facility. Credit: Submitted
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