G
ermany Township, a small Adams County municipality surrounding Littlestown borough to the west, took an unusual approach by reducing its real estate taxes for 2025. Instead of hiking or fixing them, the township voted to eliminate its real estate taxes altogether and slightly increase its fire taxes. The real estate millage rate dropped from 0.25 mills in 2024 to 0 mills in 2025, while the fire tax rose from 0.10 mills to 0.25 mills.

    This change resulted in a total municipal real estate millage rate of 0.25 mills for Germany Township in 2025, down from 0.35 mills in 2024. The new rate translates to 25 cents in taxes per $1,000 of assessed property value. Including school real estate taxes from the Littlestown Area School District, the total millage rate for properties in Germany Township is 13.7887 for 2025.

    Initially, the township considered eliminating both real estate and fire taxes as a whole to give taxpayers a break. However, this led to discussions about funding fire protection, which is covered by Alpha Fire Company of Littlestown. The township supervisors ultimately decided to replace a general fund donation with a 0.25 mill fire tax, generating $73,847 for the fire company in 2025.

    Despite reducing taxes, Germany Township's budget shows a surplus of $223,780 for 2025, following a balanced 2024 budget of $1,328,650. The township's municipal real estate tax rate is tied with Union Township for the second-lowest in Adams County, behind only Mount Joy Township which has no municipal real estate taxes.