Earned Income Tax

Everything you always wanted to know about your property taxes, but were afraid to ask!

Do you know what a mill is?

Do you know how many mills of real estate taxes you pay to Palmer Township, Northampton County, and the Easton Area School District.

Do you know how the assessed value of your house and the millage rates are used to compute your taxes?

Everyone pays real estate taxes if they own a property, but most people don't understand how their taxes are computed or how all this jargon about millage and assessed value translates to dollars. Well, read on and hopefully all your questions will be answered.

The word mill means a money amount equal to 1/10 of one cent. One mill is represented in decimal form as .001. Each year the three taxing authorities, the township, the county, and the school district establish the millage rate for the upcoming year.

Currently the rates are: Palmer Township - 8.25 mills (.00825), Northampton County - 11.8 mills (.0118), and Easton Area School District - 69.320 (.069320).

Your property values are determined by Northampton County and the assessed value is 50% of the county determined market value. That assessed value is multiplied by the millage rates noted above to determine the amount of tax you owe on your property.

The chart below shows the values of three properties, what the assessed value is for each of those properties and the taxes you would pay to each of the three taxing jurisdictions.

Assessed Value and Taxes Examples
Property Value	Assessed Value	EASD (69.32 Mills)	County (11.8 Mills)	Palmer (8.25 Mills)
$300,000	$150,000	$10,398	$1,770	$1,238
$200,000	$100,000	$6,932	$1,180	$825
$100,000	$50,000	$3,466	$590	$413

Below are some of the services provided from your Palmer Township tax dollars:

Public Works

• Winter road maintenance and materials
• Road maintenance-crack sealing, asphalt repairs and materials
• Storm sewer inlet maintenance
  
• Storm sewer inlet and piping installation
• Street sweeping
• Tree trimming
• Road rebuilding
• Asphalt paving overlays and materials
• Traffic light maintenance, repairs and utility bills
• Street light maintenance, repairs and utility billing
• Street and traffic sign materials, maintenance and replacement
• Leaf collection
• Annual traffic line striping and all intersection markings
• Township owned building maintenance

Administration
The administration, supervision, and control of all township activities to provide the efficient operation of all township services

Park Department

• Maintenance of 14 community parks
• Maintenance of 13 tot-lot playgrounds
• Maintenance of 7.8 miles of bike path
• Maintenance of 20 baseball/softball infields
• Maintenance of nine detention basins
• Maintenance of three major swales
• Maintenance of 11 park pavilions (6 rentals)
• Maintenance of eight park bathroom facilities
• Light maintenance of six football/soccer/lacrosse fields
• Snow removal for nine municipal buildings and parking lots

Planning Department
Administering every aspect of development in the township to insure controlled and planned growth

Recreation Programs

• Subsidizing the operation and maintenance of the Charles Chrin Community Center
• Subsidizing all Palmer Township Athletic Association youth sports programs
• Subsidizing the operation of the Palmer Township municipal pool

Police Department

24 hour, 7 day a week police protection and services to include:
• Canine support
• Investigative operations
• Emergency response team training and operations
• Truck safety and weight inspections
• Public awareness and safety programs
• Participation in drug task force
• Community policing/bike patrols

Palmer Township Municipal Volunteer Fire Department
24 hour, 7 day a week fire services and protection

Zoning & Code Department

• Licensing of contractors and other businesses
• Building codes and zoning ordinance enforcement
• Building and zoning permit applications
• Building, site, and property use plan reviews
• Building inspection
• Nuisance complaints
• Property maintenance enforcement
• Property records and plans management
• Administration of construction and zoning appeals