ALL REGISTERED VOTERS are eligible to vote on BALLOT QUESTIONS in Primary Elections May, 2002 Fellow
Residents and Registered Voters of West Vincent Township: Your Board of Supervisors is once again trying to double
your Township real estate taxes to provide funds for open space
preservation. They failed in the
November 1999 General Election when 60% of us voted against a similar
referendum. But only about 20% of
registered voters normally turn out for a Primary Election, so your
Supervisors apparently hope that if they can get their supporters to go the
polls, while most of the rest of us don’t bother to show up, it will pass this
time. And I believe they are
right. If you don’t vote on
this ballot question, it will almost certainly be approved! I’m not going to repeat all the arguments I made in 1999 for voting against this designated tax. Most of you probably received the letter I sent at that time. If you didn’t, or if you don’t remember it, you can find a copy on the Internet at http://www.seedship.com/chesco/westvinc/1999/99open1.html or you can contact me for a copy. But here’s one issue I brought up that I think
deserves to be repeated. I stated that
Chester County would probably increase its real estate tax rate in 2000 because
of additional spending of $140 million or so for an expansion to the open
space program, several building and renovation programs, plus other
projects, which could add about 20% to your County real estate tax bill. It actually turned out worse than even I had
imagined; the increase was 0.666 mills, or over 28% ($166.50/year on a $250,000
assessment). Earlier that same year, in May of 1999, your supervisors voted to take out a $1 million loan for a new Township Building. So far, they have spent about $250,000 for the land, plus an additional $100,000 for plans, studies, etc., and will still owe $860,000 at the end of 2002. But after three years, they haven't been able to settle on a plan that will meet the budget they originally established. Meanwhile, as with any loan, the Township has to make interest and principal payments on this debt. Later, in October of 2000, your Supervisors closed a bridge on Flowing Springs Road, rather than reduce the weight limit, because of damage resulting from an earlier storm. That was over 18 months ago. Maybe it will be reopened sometime this summer. How much inconvenience has this closing caused you? I think I have heard all the excuses and explanations for why it is taking so long to get it repaired. But it is a Township Bridge, on a Township Road, and we have a Township Board of Supervisors that is supposed to be working for the interests of Township Residents. Fast forward to January of 2002. Your Supervisors decided to borrow $100,000 from the Township Building Fund so they would have enough money to make it until the 2002 property tax revenue of $140,000 would become available. Why did they need to do this? We had a mild winter this year. How much more would they have needed to borrow if it had been a normal one? What if there had been a major snowstorm or a series of ice and snow events? Will they need another property tax increase next year to get their budget back in balance? And most recently, on April 22nd of this
year, your Supervisors unanimously passed a motion to give The French and
Pickering Creeks Conservation Trust $85,000 by January 31, 2003 to assist them
in purchasing an easement on a Beaver Hill Road property close to French
Creek. That’s over 60% of current
yearly real estate tax revenue for just a fractional payment on one
project! Did you attend the Open Space Referendum meeting our
Supervisors held at the Ludwigs Corner Fire Company on May 6th? Did you hear any concrete plans that
described what they intend to do with the money that would become available if
this referendum passes? Or did you hear
statements from them like: “We’ll have to see what opportunities arise”, or “We
don’t know if we’d buy Transferable Development Rights (TDRs) and retire them (which
would decrease the overall number of houses that could be built in our
Township), or try to sell them to developers for a profit (which wouldn’t)”, or
“We didn’t really have to hold this referendum; we could have just voted to
raise your taxes without asking your permission”. So what will this Township tax increase mean if it passes? If you own a property assessed at $250,000 it will cost you an additional $122.50/year. That’s in addition to the extra $166.50/year you’re currently paying due to the 2000 County tax increase of 28%. And according to reports in various newspapers, most school districts in Chester County will have to increase their property tax rates by at least 10% this year due to changes in state funding and pension requirements, plus other needs. They won’t be voting on the 2002-2003 tax rates until May 27, but if the Owen J. Roberts School District increases their property tax rates by just 10% this year (1.77 mills), that will mean an additional $442.50/year. With respect to “open space preservation”, the State
of Pennsylvania is providing funds, Chester County has borrowed over $100
million to support it, and now your Township Supervisors want to double
your Township real estate taxes to provide even more funds. How much is enough? There are already a number of organizations
in Chester County that are dedicated to such preservation. Among them: The French and Pickering Creeks
Conservation Trust (which has already preserved at least 7,000 acres), the
Brandywine Conservancy (which has preserved even more), the Natural Lands Trust
and the West Vincent Land Trust. If you
VOLUNTARILY CONTRIBUTE to any of
these organizations you retain an important option: you can periodically
evaluate what they've been doing. If
you find you're still in agreement with their activities, you can continue your
support. If not, you can reallocate
your contributions to a different organization that you think is doing a better
job. But if this referendum is approved,
you will have lost the ability to "vote
with your wallet"; you will be stuck with your Board of Supervisors'
future decisions on how the money will be spent. My wife and I initially purchased 48 acres in West
Vincent Township in 1980. We built our
home on that land and moved here in 1983.
Over the years we have acquired an additional 16 acres, so we certainly
believe in “open space”. But we don’t
believe in just throwing money into a project if those requesting the funds
can’t come up with concrete plans on how they intend to accomplish their goals before
asking for financial support. Your
Supervisors have not done so in this case, and have not shown their ability to
do so in other areas as well, some of which I have described above. Therefore, I urge you to: Vote NO on the OPEN SPACE TAX REFERENDUM Punch #36 on Tuesday, May 21 Bob Ellis |