The email and press release was a dead giveaway.
County officials sent out an email Tuesday afternoon to alert the media to the fact that "Delaware County Council will make an announcement regarding its 2016 budget tomorrow."
That could only mean one thing.
No tax hike.
I hate to say I told you so, but I told you so. I noted in yesterday's blog that the press availability was almost assuredly to announce that there would be no tax hike included in this year's budget.
After all, people don't usually hold a press conference to announce that taxes are going up.
In fact, as we've discovered in the past, getting that information from County Council is not always nearly as easy as the news that for the second straight year, Delco residents will not see their county tax bills rise.
Hey, I can't say I blame them. Still, I don't remember any press conference a few years back when County Council, which has been all Republican for decades, was staring down the barrel of several years of tax hikes. In fact, I distinctly remember that Council was not especially forthcoming with that information, especially before the November election.
So don't think for a moment that politics doesn't play a part in all this.
We are just about a month out from the November election, where three incumbent Republican members of County Council are facing a trio of Democratic challengers.
The GOP trio of John McBLain, Colleen Morrone and Michael Culp will face off against Democrats Christine Reuther, Sharon Booker and Richard Womack.
Council didn't actually roll out the spending plan yesterday. That's still being worked on by Executive Director Marianne Grace. But they did announce that they will deliver a fiscal plan that does not hike taxes.
County Democratic Chairman David Landau says it's all politics, while his counterpart, GOP leader Andy Reilly, dismisses those claims.
Me?
Well, consider the fall election season officially open. This is just the opening shot.
I'll hold my breath waiting for County Council - or for any other ruling body for that matter - to call a press conference to announce they were raising taxes.
Somebody call 911.
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