Civic Issues
Topics getting the most attention in Bucks County, Pennsylvania public meetings, ranked by how frequently they are discussed.
5 issues in taxes budget
Corrections facility maintenance
A heating/hot-water breakdown forced officials to empty the Community Corrections Center, pause work release for about a week, and move inmates to the main jail. Work release is running again from the jail, and consolidating operations is saving money on food, medical, and staffing.
Conflict counsel costs for county courts
New lawyers get $5,000 signing bonuses and mid-level staff get retention bonuses — all paid by a state grant, not county money, to keep the office fully staffed.
County employee raises health insurance coverage dispute
A 21-year county employee told the board her husband's FDA-approved cancer treatment has been stuck since August because IBX won't even accept a pre-authorization request under the county's self-funded plan. She's asking commissioners to push county HR and IBX to resolve it — a question of how well the county's health plan works for its own workers.
Retiree cost-of-living adjustment and pension administration
The pension fund took a roughly $48 million hit in March but rebounded in April, now up about $15 million for the year at about $1.129 billion.
Rising non-formulary medication costs
Injectable addiction treatments cost the county roughly $1,400 per dose — about $52,000 in September alone — and hepatitis C drugs could add $200,000-$300,000 a year. The director says funding sources like opioid settlement money and grants are drying up.