Governmental Responsibilities

Extra-territorial functions/participation-

Upper Dublin is a member of the Montgomery County Association of Township Officials (MCATO), successor to the Supervisors and Auditors Association of Montgomery County (MCATO website)

2. On Fitzwatertown Road Upper Dublin provides the transfer station’s recycling facility for Eastern Montgomery County as part of the Montgomery County Recycling Consortium. See SCS Engineers, Montgomery County Recycling Consortium Transfer Station Operations Assessment, Upper Dublin Township (Dec. 2020), pursuant to UD Resolution No. 1793 (2002).

Pursuant to the Montgomery County Consortium of Communities (originated in 1981) Upper Dublin administers the area’s salt contract and storage.

Pursuant to Pennsylvania law governing personal income tax collection, Upper Dublin is a member of the Montgomery County Tax Collection Committee that retains Berkheimer as the administrator and collection agent.

Upper Dublin is a participant in the County’s solid waste incinerator program (in Plymouth Township) after the County’s dump was closed. The agreement to participate has been renewed for successive 5-year periods beginning January 1, 1982.

TOWNSHIP/SCHOOL BOARD FINANCES

Budgets; Tax rates; income tax; transfer tax—changes, relative to inflation

FIRST CLASS TOWNSHIPS-tax restraints are imposed by section 320 of the Local Tax Enabling Act of 1965.

School districts-Act 1 of 2006, Pennsylvania’s Taxpayer Protection Act, imposes restrictions on tax increases -as of Sept. 2023, 5.3% is the limit imposed for Upper Dublin School District for the next fiscal year under the formula established by Act 1. A school district may seek relief from the limit by either applying to Pennsylvania Department of Education or by seeking voter approval.

Kenneth Roos, The Upper Dublin Debt Act Referendum: ‘A Series of Fortunate Events.’” Amy T. Brooks, Esq., co-presenter. Pennsylvania School Boards Solicitor’s Association Annual School Solicitors Symposium. July 12-13, 2007.

Both the township and the school district participate in self-insurance consortia to respond to various types of claims.

INSERT TOWNSHIP ‘S SELF-INSURED ENTITIES

In 1977 Upper Dublin School District joined the nascent School Districts Insurance Consortium, which has over time expanded to 90 districts. See School Districts Insurance Consortium webpage, history. There is also a School Districts Service Consortium and a related School Districts Service Corp. In each instance, the principal finance officer of each school district serves on the board or as a voting member of the entity.

BOND RATING

School District

Moody’s, Upper Dublin School District, PA-Moody’s assigns Aa3 GOLT rating to Upper Dublin SD, PA’s Series AAA of 2021 Bonds (Dec. 30, 2020)

The Upper Dublin School District had an A1 rating by Moody’s for a 2000 $10 million bond offering, and continued with that rating through 2008 (that included a $10 million offering in 2007 and a $53.5 Million offering in 2008), was upgraded to An Aa2 rating in 2010, and then to an Aa3 rating in 2011 which continued until late 2020 (with a $10 million offering in 2016,--note that there was an upgrading to A2 from Baa1 in 2016) with a $67.8 million offering in January 2017.

Township

News Release, Upper Dublin Township upgraded to Aa1 rating (June 15, 2018)

High bond rating reaps big savings to Upper Dublin, Reporter (June 23, 2010) (only 15 of 1500 townships in Pennsylvania have a a higher rating than AA2)

TAX BURDEN

In an Inquirer article in 1983, Upper Dublin was referred to as having the fourth highest tax rate among Montgomery County municipalities, per the Pennsylvania Economy League. Donna Shaw, Upper Dublin disputes 2 news articles, Phila. Inquirer, Sept. 15, 1983, p. 7.

Quadrupling of Assessments Raises Upper Dublin Fury, Philadelphia Inquirer, pp. 9 and 17 (June 16, 1966) (farmland that was within an area now zoned “industrial” reassessed by county assessors to reflect change in zoning; Seltzer, developer of the industrial park, complained that the new assessments was unfair to areas that continued to farm; county responded that the owners waited too long to complain)

Posted as webpage by pro-Promenade advocates under the name Upper Dublin Residents for Smart Development (Nov. 8, 2016):

Upper Dublin Township has experienced a significant shift in real estate tax revenue over the course of the past several decades, especially with regard to the declining portion from commercial properties. The assessed value of the Fort Washington Office Park (FWOP) has diminished 10% over the past 15 years. The overall contribution of non-residential real estate taxes in Upper Dublin now sits below 15% (Wissahickon has ~50% more commercial real estate than Upper Dublin), placing the bulk of the tax burden, in particular revenues that support the Upper Dublin School District, on Upper Dublin homeowners. Improvements are in-the-works to address FWOP concerns; however, with the township now built-out to 97% capacity, additional approaches to pending and future development of land parcels in Upper Dublin are in order to maximize revenue and reverse this decline. Several properties in Upper Dublin are slated for development with potential to implement smart growth development. A national analysis of one of these approaches, mixed-use, indicated average municipal savings of 38% for infrastructure and 10% for services plus, on a per-acre basis, 10X the tax revenue vs. conventional suburban development.

The reassessment of business properties can cause a loss of substantial revenue to Upper Dublin as they constitute a fifth or more of the township’s total assessed value and give rise to a similar percentage in non-resident earned income tax revenue. Shirley Loveless, Coleshill Associates, Assessment of Market and Development Potential of Fort Washington Office Center, at pp. D-4 and D-5, Appendix D to Fort Washington Area Flooding and Transportation Study, Temple University, 2007 (citing Diane Mastrull, Phila. Inquirer, Sept. 26, 2006); Kyle Bagenstose, School District Facing $1 Million Shortfall, Eyes Cuts, PATCH (March 27, 2012), citing the HUB Properties Trust properties’ challenge to assessments due to flooding. issues Those properties, all in the Fort Washington Office Park, were (and now) 515 and 535 West Pennsylvania Avenue, 525, 550 and 580 Virginia Drive.

Promenade (consisting of properties on Market Street) and neighboring commercial properties on Dryden, collectively owned by BET, are currently assessed in the aggregate at approximately $80 million (check this-maybe double counting office building occupied by BET and others). In 2019, prior to assessment of Promenade the assessed value of properties in Upper Dublin was $260.2 million (per the Urban Partners’ memo cited below). Therefore, Promenade added almost 30% to the existing assessment base.

Similarly, Urban Partners, Fiscal Impact of Residential Development Zoning Changes for Ft. Washington Office Park (April 22, 2019), projected net impact on Township of proposed zoning change will be in the range of $600,000 annually; projected net impact on School District will be a gain of $4.3 to $4.4 million annually). The estimated increase in assessed value with the then proposed zoning change would range from $122.4 million to $134.7 million.

Unlike some Pennsylvania jurisdictions that reassess annually and others that reassess every three years, Montgomery County has not reassessed for nearly three decades. The County’s failure to undertake a reassessment of properties since 1998 (when it was forced to do so after its personal property tax was held by the courts to be impermissible) has become a softer version of California’s Proposition 13. That famous California provision fixes the assessment of residences at time of purchase plus a maximum one percent annual increase in the property tax. Like Montgomery County’s system, it enables long-term homeowners with appreciating properties to reduce their comparative tax burden as new purchasers of comparable housing see much higher assessments for their homes as prices for real estate increase, whether due to inflation or for other reasons. Although California’s Proposition 13 applies only to residential properties, Montgomery County’s failure to reassess extends its benefits to long-term owners of commercial properties. Accordingly, whenever the law permits, frequent appeals from assessments (whether by government or taxpayer) occur in a scramble to challenge existing assessments.

Why do Horsham taxpayers pay about a third less in local property taxes? (Note Horsham does not pick up trash; that cost is borne by residential property owners.)

WATER

In 1898, the Upper Dublin Water Co. was incorporated. Although the Upper Dublin Water Co. was granted rights to service all of Upper Dublin. However, throughout Ambler Borough’s Water Department has serviced Old Ft. Washington and nearby consumers. In 1912, the Ambler Water Company (itself founded by Richard Mattison in 1881) built the reservoir on Loch Alsh Avenue in Upper Dublin to maintain groundwater at adequate levels to assure water supplies throughout the year, particularly for the asbestos manufacturing interests of Keasbey & Mattison. In 1916, the Upper Dublin Water Co., then servicing 558 customers in Upper Dublin and Whitemarsh, was purchased by Ambler’s water company through issuance of twenty-year bonds. Along York Road, Phila. Inquirer, Nov. 12, 1916, p.7.

In 1958 Dublin Water Co. was organized to serve Maple Glen, as apparently Philadelphia Suburban had refused to extend its service to that newly developed area. In 1960 the township extended Dublin Water Co.’s territory was extended to newly developed Aidenn Lair. Philadelphia Suburban challenged the extension of Dublin Water Co.’s service area before the Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission. That resulted in the Public Utility Commission’s decision invalidating that extension, with the Pennsylvania’s Superior Court affirming that decision. Dublin Water Co. v. Pennsylvania Public Utility Comm’n, 206 Pa. Super. 180, 213 A.2d 139 (1965).

Since 1992, Upper Dublin consumers have been, depending upon their location, provided water by the Ambler Borough Water Department, the North Wales Water Authority and Philadelphia Suburban Water. Philadelphia Suburban was renamed Aqua. The territorial division of water sources continues to this day.

SEWER

As recently as 1955, there were no sewers in the Township. (CITE)

As to sewage, there were two “local” companies: Upper Dublin Water Co. (check this?) and Delaware Valley Industrial Sewer Company (DVISCO). DVISCO was sited on Delaware Avenue, to service the then new Ft. Washington Industrial Park. DVISCO became the Upper Dublin Township Waste Water Treatment Plant. UD Ord 814 (March 24, 1992) (authorizing bond issue for purchase of DVISCO). That plant continues to operate today. It is in the process of being demolished and a new plant constructed in Ambler. CITE In ---- Upper Dublin sold its interests to the Bucks County Water and Sewer Authority (when?).

In 2022 Bucks County Water & Sewer Authority considered selling its operations to Aqua. After considerable community resistance, including some within Upper Dublin, that effort has been deferred or, perhaps, abandoned.

Although the central part of the township serviced by that facility, the northeastern part of Upper Dublin (Willow Manor) is serviced Upper Moreland-Hatboro Joint Sewer Authority (as agreed to by Upper Moreland when Willow Manor was being developed—see above) and the western third has long been serviced by the Ambler Borough Sewer Treatment Plant (a territory existing when Old Fort Washington was developed). UD Ord 809 (Nov. 12, 1991); UD Ord 818 (May 12, 1992)

As addressed below, there were sewer districts organized and financed through payments to the Upper Dublin Municipal Authority. The financing of sewers and sewer connections remained controversial for many years. Donna Shaw, Upper Dublin Officials Seeking Alternative Financing for Sewers, Phila. Inquirer, June 20, 1983, p. N07 (issues raised by residents of Galway and the Kenmare Drive subdivision and Dublin Downs (Whitehouse, Dublin and Pembrook Roads—there are 16 subdivisions without sewers, with cost too high to calculate, requiring the township’s sewer fee of $145 to increase by 750 to 800 percent, per Township Manager Bonargo; possibility of help through Seltzer organization’s development of 140 single-family homes of the Hawley Tract, between Pinetown and Camphill Roads, and proposed development by New Dublin Associates on the Donahue Tract off of Welsh Road in Maple Glen). Donna Shaw, Developer alters proposal after Maple Glen protest, Phila. Inquirer, Feb. 10, 1983, at 12-N (garden apartments omitted; single-family homes reduced from 272 to 247; opposition by Maple Glen Civic Association). Ultimately, the municipal authority was terminated. UD Ord 1595 09/10/1996.

HOME/BUILDING INPSECTIONS: THE DUBLIN PROPERTIES’ DEBACLE

In the late 1970s Dublin Properties, Inc. constructed two major housing developments in Upper Dublin, Susquehanna Woods and Tannerie Woods. Grace Madley, From rolling farmland to suburban townhouses, Phila. Inquirer, Nov. 19, 1977, at 15C.

The principals included Marvin Allanoff, a prominent Montgomery County attorney whose law office was located in Upper Dublin, Gary Gordon and Eugene Rubin.

The buildings had multiple significant defects that the township missed by using untrained and insufficiently trained inspectors and other failures with code compliance by both its staff and developer. These defects plagued (and even endangered) purchasers of hundreds of single-family homes and townhouses. Officials blame one another for defective housing, Phila. Inquirer, Aug. 22, 1983, at --- (“We are a little lax to enforcing the code the letter” said former township building inspector Walter Pearce,…adding that inspection records were “not really detailed…”) Eventually Dublin Properties, Inc. filed for bankruptcy and years later two of its officers (Gordon and Rubin) faced federal criminal bank fraud charges related to their conduct. In re Dublin Properties, Bankruptcy No. 08-03020G, and Adv. Nos. 81-0026G & 81-0027G, 12 B.R. 77 (Bkry. E.D. Pa., June 19, 1981) (denying debtors access to Chapter 11 reorganization); INA Underwriters Ins. v. Rubin, 635 F. Supp. 1 (E.D. Pa. 1983); Kim Brizzolata, Suit says builder ‘misled’ homeowners, Feb. 7, 1983, at 10-N; Kim W. Brizzolata & Rich Heidorn, Jr., Faulty houses and official error haunt township, Phila. Inquirer, Aug. 22, 1983, at pp. 1-A & 8-A; Rich Heidorn, Jr. & Joe Logan, 2 Upper Dublin developers charged with bank fraud, Phila. Inquirer, June 28, 1984, at 9BP (summarizing township’s inspection failures as reported in prior article).

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