Joan has answered this question very accurately, Kate. This rural "farmland" has just burst at it's seems with new communities in the past 10 years and required larger schools among other things that we might call "growing pains". The Birdsboro area, while an older community has some very nice homes that you may want to consider and you will find lower taxes, as well!

Faith LaRosse; Realtor
Coldwell Banker Hearthside
350 W. Main St. Collegeville, PA

Kate, I'll reference 19518 zip code specifically here. Douglassville (Amity Twp) has seen huge growth in the last 10 years due to all the new home developments going in. These new homes have terribly strained the infrastructure - just look at the traffic jams on Rt 422 going towards KoP. To cope with all these new homes, Daniel Boone School District has had to build new schools, funded by all the taxpayers. Amity Township has also had to hire more police, and improve the local roadways (not counting state + federal roads). At the same time, new industry hasn't moved in to take some of the burden. The 1992 baseline for property taxes doesn't help Amity either, as such a large proportion of the area is new construction. If you are looking for lower taxes, look at some of the older homes in Amity Gardens or in Monocacy Station.

Part of Berks County problem is that same that much of the state faces, school spending out of control. Each year Berks County schools are doing some construction improvement whether a new football field or auditorium they all cost money. The people that pay for this new construction are homeowners. The real problem with these high taxes are the ederly and anyone over 65 who hasn't had a child in school for decades. Real tax reform is possible but the right people must be voted in to do something about it. Consider that the next election and see if we can not change this problem!

Here's my thoughts on it. Because there is not as much industry up there anymore to support the people's needs. Yes they built a lot of New construction neighborhoods.And people came from far away to buy a home there, because they couldn't afford where they really wanted to live or where they weorked at. So...the people that actually are home grown there have limited means of making the kind of money to support them.And the tab is being picked up locally and some.I am sure there is more to it than that. All i know is when you couldn't buy a 200,000 house here in Chester County, you could get a mini mansion up there for that kinda money.Drawback was 1 hour to 1 1/2 drive time for hubby. OUCH!!! They ended up selling in time.Then we headed to Lancaster County.