Berks County news

Berks County real estate tax bills are dated March 1. Pay by April 30 for a 2% discount; a 10% penalty is added after June 30. Payment options and deadlines.

Compare 2026 property tax rates for every Berks County municipality: county, municipal, and school mills, and the combined total for each town.

The July 2, 2026 Berks County commissioners meeting: a new AI policy for employees, $206K in uniform contracts, a $300K farm loan, and an ICE comment.

Reading City Council removed 13 proposed Home Rule Charter amendments from November's ballot after the Charter Review Commission missed its reporting deadline.

Berks County's 2026 budget spends $690 million. Where the money comes from, where it goes, and why county taxes cover only about a quarter of it.

Households and businesses hit by the June 11 Oak Forest apartment fire can get federal loans and state grants. Key deadlines: July 16, Aug. 24, Sept. 27.

The June 15 Muhlenberg agenda carried a disaster-emergency declaration for the Oak Forest fire, damage estimated above $2 million, plus a $312,589 fire pumper.

The annual Berks County assessment appeal deadline is August 1. How the process works, what evidence wins, what it costs, and the ratio the board applies.

Berks County publishes agendas, minutes, and budgets, but almost no resident can use them. Four inexpensive fixes would change that.

What the three Berks County commissioners do, what the row officers are, and what the county controls versus your township and school district.

Berks County said a new jail would beat renovating the old one. Four years after restarting the project there is no site, no price, and no decision.

The July 9, 2026 Berks County agenda: about $600,000 in budget moves, grants and appointments, and outside counsel for a possible building purchase.

Berks Heim in Leesport is a 420-bed nursing home owned by Berks County, one of the few county-run homes left in Pennsylvania. Costs, admission, and why it matters.

The Schuylkill Valley school board adopted a $50.7 million 2026-27 budget and raised property taxes for the first time in seven years: $127.50 on the average home.

The county has cited big numbers for its government-center plan. The documents behind them, the price, and the financing still belong in public view.

Your guide to the November 3, 2026 election in Berks County: the deadlines that matter and step-by-step guides to registering, voting by mail, and finding your polling place.

Reading, Spring, Bern, Exeter, and Cumru are all writing data-center rules at once. Who has an ordinance, who wants a moratorium, and what decides July 13.

When and where the Berks County commissioners meet, how to watch online, the exact public-comment rules, and how to find agendas and minutes.

Official results: 23.22% turnout in the May 19 primary, certified June 5. Democrats turned out at 24.9%, Republicans at 21.7%. November is the big one.

The federal government will not open the ICE facility it planned in an Upper Bern Township warehouse it bought for $87.4 million. What happened, and what happens to the building now.