Credit: JB LevNow.com
David De Long has been on a crusade of sorts. Over the last three months, it could be said, that he and his partner Ken Bixler could be solely responsible for educating hundreds of tax paying home owners in Lower Bucks County about the Property Independence Tax Act (HB/SB 76).
De Long, whether you agree with his position or not, has put himself out there in ways that sometimes people want to question his sanity. For him, it’s a simple calculation.
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“If school property taxes continue to rise, what’s the point of having what is the American dream still?” (owning a home), he asks with a disgust in his voice at the current situation.
De Long, familiar to residents of Bristol Borough for his out spoken point of view and public statements at council and school board meetings, said in April while the new teachers contract was about to be made public by the board, that’s he’s a year behind on his property taxes and sees no way of ever catching up because of the continual rise of those tariffs.
“Think about this,” he said, “you buy a home, pay the mortgage over a 20 or 30 year period, and then you own it, right? Wrong! The fact of the matter is, you really don’t own that property, because if you don’t pay your local school property taxes, then a lien can be placed on your home and taken over by that local municipality. So I pay 3o years for a home and it’s not really mine to own?” he asks incredulously.
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“Tell me how is that fair?”
So De Long, after losing his job, began to worry, about just that kind of situation. He soon became engulfed with information on the internet coming across the Pennsylvania’s Taxpayers Cyber Coalition and it was in that group and the 32 others at time (now over 80) where he found what he describes to be the promised land for homeowners.
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“The current system is old, archaic and doesn’t serve the needs of us all. It’s not balanced and as you can see (pointing to his self-made chart) as the years go by more homeowners are losing their homes and it’s because of property taxes not the inability to pay a mortgage and that’s un-American and obscene as far as I’m concerned,” he said.
Spurred on by the support, research and contentions of PTCC De Long decided to start his own local initiative so he could disseminate pertinent information about property taxes and how they are “eating up homeowners” he says. Birthing the Bristol Borough Taxpayers Association, a non political group of taxpayers that seek alternative methods of taxation besides property taxes. Community interests and involvement to work together towards unity and betterment. Equality for all community,” now has close to 350 members.
De Long and board colleague Bixler will see all these posts, work, information and drive culminate tonight with a powerpoint presentation by the Director of the PTCC’ David Baldinger 7 p.m. tonight in Bristol Borough at the I.M.A. 5th Ward located at 1143 Wood Street Tuesday beginning at 7 p.m.
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” Tonite is the night we take our first step towards Property Tax Independence,” he posted on the BBTA Facebook page Tuesday morning.
