Delaware County Tax Rates: Millage, Discounts, and Appeals

Property tax rates in Delaware County, PA come in three layers stacked on top of each other. The county sets a uniform rate of 4.609 mills for 2026.¹ Your municipality adds its own rate, and your school district adds a third. Where you live inside the county determines whether your combined rate lands near 16 mills or well above 50, so the county figure alone tells you very little about what you will actually owe.

The Three Layers on Every Bill

Delaware County property taxes come from three independent taxing bodies, each with its own budget and its own annual rate. The county funds regional services like courts, human services, and county parks. Your township or borough funds local roads, police, fire, and neighborhood services. Your school district funds schools.

Each body sets its rate every year, which is why your total bill can move even when your assessed value does not. School district taxes are almost always the largest of the three, and in many parts of the county the school portion alone is bigger than the county and municipal portions combined.

2026 Millage Rates

One mill equals one dollar of tax for every $1,000 of assessed value.

County rate: 4.609 mills for 2026, a 19 percent increase from the prior year that adds roughly $185 to the average homeowner’s annual bill.¹

Municipal rates: These range from 0.0000 mills in Thornbury Township to 18.4000 mills in Darby Borough.² Some municipalities fund services largely through other revenue; others rely heavily on the property tax.

School district rates: These range from 11.3681 mills in the West Chester Area School District to 32.86 mills in the William Penn School District.² Fifteen public school districts serve the county.³

The county publishes the full breakdown of municipal and school rates in its 2026 tax rate table, which is the source to check for your exact address.²

Calculating Your Annual Bill

Multiply your assessed value by the combined millage rate, then divide by 1,000.⁴

Say your home is assessed at $250,000, your municipality charges 5.0 mills, and your school district charges 25.0 mills. Add the 4.609-mill county rate for a combined 34.609 mills. The math: $250,000 × 34.609 ÷ 1,000 = $8,652 per year.

That same $250,000 home in a low-tax township with a combined rate near 16 mills would owe roughly $4,000. Location inside the county matters more than most buyers expect.

Payment Deadlines and the Early-Pay Discount

Delaware County rewards paying early and punishes paying late. County tax bills follow this schedule:⁴

Pay within 60 days of the mailing date (by April 1) and take 2 percent off.
Pay April 2 through June 1 at the face amount, no discount and no penalty.
Pay June 2 through December 31 with a 10 percent penalty added.

On a $6,000 county bill, the discount saves $120 and missing the June 1 deadline adds $600. That is a $720 swing on the same bill.

Municipal and school district bills run on their own schedules, and the dates do not always match the county’s. Check each bill separately.

How Your Assessed Value Is Set

The millage rate is applied to your assessed value, not your purchase price and not your current market value. The Delaware County Board of Assessment Appeals sets that value for every parcel and its improvements.⁵

The county completed a countywide reassessment effective January 1, 2021, its first since 2000, bringing all properties to fair market value as of that date. Your assessment notice lists the parcel number, classification, and assessed value, and that value remains your taxable base until the next reassessment or a successful appeal.

Appealing an Assessment You Think Is Too High

If your assessed value looks higher than what the property would sell for, file an appeal with the Board of Assessment Appeals. The board requires an original signature; faxed or electronic submissions are not accepted.⁶ You can hand-deliver the appeal to the Government Center at 201 West Front Street in Media, or mail it. If you mail it, the postmark controls timeliness, so the county recommends a hand-cancellation or certificate of mailing.

Strong evidence usually means recent comparable sales, a professional appraisal, or documented defects that reduce value. If the board rules against you, you have 30 days to appeal to the Court of Common Pleas through the Office of Judicial Support, which charges a filing fee.⁶

Programs That Reduce What You Owe

Homestead and Farmstead Exclusion

Pennsylvania’s Taxpayer Relief Act lets school districts reduce the assessed value of owner-occupied homes before calculating the school tax.⁷ The reduction varies by district based on state funding received. The property must be your primary residence; vacation homes, rentals, and commercial properties do not qualify. Apply through the county assessor’s office by March 1.⁸ Once approved, you generally do not reapply more than once every three years unless your situation changes.

The farmstead exclusion works the same way for buildings on farms of at least ten contiguous acres in commercial agricultural use, provided the owner lives there.⁷

Property Tax/Rent Rebate

Pennsylvania runs a separate rebate for older adults and people with disabilities. You may qualify if you are 65 or older, a widow or widower age 50 or older, or a person with a disability age 18 or older, and your household income is $48,110 or less.⁹

Standard rebates by income:

$0 to $8,550: up to $1,000
$8,551 to $16,040: up to $770
$16,041 to $19,240: up to $460
$19,241 to $48,110: up to $380

Homeowners with income of $32,070 or less whose property taxes exceed 15 percent of their income can receive a supplemental rebate on top of the standard amount, raising the maximum to $1,500 at the lowest income tier.⁹

What Happens If You Do Not Pay

Under Pennsylvania’s Real Estate Tax Sale Law, taxes become delinquent on December 31. By the following April, tax collectors return unpaid accounts to the county tax claim bureau, which files a formal claim against the property by June 30.¹⁰

The bureau sends notice by July 31, and you have until December 31 to pay in full. If you do not, the claim becomes absolute on January 1. Properties delinquent for two or more years become eligible for an upset sale, held between the second Monday in September and the end of the calendar year. If the property does not sell at the upset sale, the bureau can petition for a judicial sale, which wipes out most liens and transfers clear title to a new buyer.¹⁰

Unpaid property taxes do not simply generate penalties. They can eventually cost you the property.

1
Delaware County, Pennsylvania. Budget Management
2
Delaware County, Pennsylvania. 2026 Tax Rates
3
Delaware County Intermediate Unit. Our Districts
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Delaware County, Pennsylvania. Delaware County Current Year Taxes
5
Granicus. Board of Assessment Appeals
6
Delaware County, Pennsylvania. Board of Assessment
7
Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development. Property Tax Relief Through Homestead Exclusion
8
Pennsylvania General Assembly. Taxpayer Relief Act – Act 1 of Special Session 1 of 2006
9
Pennsylvania Department of Revenue. Property Tax/Rent Rebate Program
10
Pennsylvania General Assembly. Real Estate Tax Sale Law – Act of Jul 7 1947