Around Glen Mills, Three Ways to Pay for a Town
October 15, 2026
October 15, 2026
The Concord Township municipal building sits at 43 S. Thornton Road and receives its mail under the 19342 Glen Mills ZIP code. The Chester Heights Borough office lists a Glen Mills, PA 19342 address as well. "Glen Mills" is a mail route, and the governments behind it are separate. Along with Thornbury Township in Delaware County, those two municipalities show three different ways to pay for local government.
That difference never appears on a listing sheet. A listing can show what the seller paid in property tax last year. It cannot show an earned income tax, because that tax depends on the buyer's paycheck. For a buyer weighing two similar homes in the Glen Mills area, the cheaper home to own may turn on who is buying it.
The shared base comes first. Delaware County sets assessments, and its 2026 county rate is 4.609 mills everywhere in the county, Concord, Thornbury, and Chester Heights included. The calculation is the same everywhere too. Concord Township's tax page describes it as dividing the assessed value by 1,000, then multiplying by the millage rate.
Above that base, the three municipalities split onto different paths. Two of them sit in Garnet Valley School District and one in West Chester Area School District, so the school millage differs as well. The school district is the largest line on any of these bills.
Concord relies on real estate taxes. Property owners there get three separate bills a year. The township bill is mailed February 15, the county bill February 1, and the Garnet Valley School District bill July 1. For 2026, the township rate is 0.9313 mills. Garnet Valley's rate for July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027 is 20.6047 mills.
According to the township's new-resident guide, Concord does not collect an earned income tax. Its Local Services Tax is $52 a year and is usually withheld by employers. That page still lists the township rate as 0.514 mills, an older figure the township's own 2026 tax page has since replaced.
The climb from 0.514 to 0.9313 came in two separate steps:
In Concord, then, the township's growing costs have landed on property. A household's tax bill there tracks its assessment, whatever the household earns.
Thornbury Township in Delaware County works the other way. Its local tax page says the township does not levy a township real estate tax. Instead, Thornbury and West Chester Area School District share an earned income tax of 1 percent on gross wages and net profits from a business or profession, collected by Keystone Collections Group. West Chester Area School District says the 1 percent is split evenly, with 0.5 percent going to the township and 0.5 percent to the district.
The school district still levies a property tax. In the 2026-27 budget the district approved in June 2026, the Delaware County rate is 12.22 mills. Thornbury's 2026 general fund budget projects $3,078,000 in revenue, with $2,438,300 under the broad heading of taxes.
Chester Heights Borough takes a middle path for 2026. It levies 0.20058 borough mills plus a separate 0.3965 mills for fire services. It pays Garnet Valley School District taxes and charges a $1-a-week Local Services Tax on people who work in the borough. As of Delaware County's February 2026 rate table, the borough had no earned income tax.
On October 7, 2026, the borough posted a draft ordinance that would impose a 1 percent earned income tax for general borough purposes. Under the draft, because the borough would be levying the tax for the first time, it would take effect 30 days after adoption and could not be imposed before January 1, 2027. The draft also states that the tax would not reduce Garnet Valley School District revenues. The posted document is unsigned and undated, so it is a proposal, not an enacted tax.
If council adopts it, Chester Heights would rely on both property and income. A buyer planning a 2027 move there would be weighing a tax structure that is still being decided.
Assume a home assessed at $400,000. Here is how the published 2026 rates apply to that one number. These are the municipal, fire, county, and school components named in the sources above, not a complete tax bill.
| Line item | Concord Township | Thornbury Township (Delco) | Chester Heights Borough |
|---|---|---|---|
| Municipal millage | 0.9313 → $372.52 | 0 → $0 | 0.20058 → $80.23 |
| Fire millage | included in township rate | none listed | 0.3965 → $158.60 |
| Delaware County, 4.609 | $1,843.60 | $1,843.60 | $1,843.60 |
| School district | Garnet Valley 20.6047 → $8,241.88 | West Chester Area 12.22 → $4,888.00 | Garnet Valley 20.6047 → $8,241.88 |
| Property total | $10,458.00 | $6,731.60 | $10,324.31 |
| Earned income tax | none | 1% of earned income | none in 2026; 1% drafted for no earlier than 2027 |
The property gap between Concord and Thornbury at this assessment comes to $3,726.40. In Thornbury, the 1 percent earned income tax takes some of that back. A household earning $150,000 in wages would owe $1,500 in earned income tax there and still come out $2,226.40 ahead of Concord on these lines. On this arithmetic, the two would break even at $372,640 of earned income. Above that, the Concord house costs less in these taxes. Below it, the Thornbury house does.
The assessment moves that break-even point. At a $600,000 assessment, every figure in the property column rises by half, and so does the earned income needed to close the gap. A household with little earned income, or none, feels the property side of the comparison almost entirely. A high-earning household in a modestly assessed home feels the income side more.
None of this is a recommendation about where anyone should buy, or a statement of what any household will owe. It shows how a property-weighted system and an income-weighted system work on different kinds of households. The right figures for a particular move come from the county assessment, the current rates, and a tax professional.
Some of the costs in these three municipalities never show up as millage at all. Concord residents hire their own trash and recycling haulers from a list of haulers registered with the township. Concord homes may be on an individual on-site sewage system, a community sewer system, or the Concord Township Sewer Department, which bills connected properties every quarter based on water meter readings. Police service in Concord comes from the Pennsylvania State Police, Troop K, Media Station.
Thornbury contracts with B&L Disposal for Wednesday recycling pickup, and residents may hire a private recycling contractor instead. Its sewer program puts operation and maintenance of on-lot systems on the homeowner. In Chester Heights, minutes from the April 6, 2026 council meeting record a Pennsylvania State Police trooper presenting service statistics for the borough. The borough's spring/summer 2025 newsletter describes a proposed public sewer expansion for two areas that then relied on septic systems. A hauler contract or a quarterly sewer bill belongs in the same monthly budget as the tax figures above.
Does a Glen Mills address tell me which township a home is in? No. Concord Township and Chester Heights Borough both use a Glen Mills, PA 19342 mailing address for their own offices, so the mailing address alone does not tell you which municipality a home is in.
Is the earned income tax charged on retirement income? Thornbury's page describes the tax as levied on gross wages and net profits from a business or profession. Questions about specific kinds of income are best taken to Keystone Collections Group or a tax professional.
When will Chester Heights decide on its earned income tax? The posted draft does not give an adoption date. If adopted, it could not be imposed before January 1, 2027.
Why does the Concord New Residents page show a lower rate? That page still shows 0.514 mills, while the township's tax page lists 0.9313 mills for 2026.
When the right home could be in more than one of these municipalities, it helps to know which one you're actually buying into before an offer goes in. Robin M Anderson can help you confirm the municipality behind each address and gather current rate pages and service details for the homes on your list, so you can weigh them calmly and side by side. Let's Connect.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
Stay up to date on the latest real estate trends.
I provide a hands-on, high-touch approach, guiding every step of your real estate journey with care and expertise. From preparation and marketing to negotiation and closing, I focus on maximizing value and creating seamless experiences. My goal is to deliver exceptional outcomes while building long-term, trusted relationships.