Residents Come out to Oppose Middletown Tax Increase

Middletown residents came out Wednesday night to oppose a 1 percent earned income tax (EIT) proposed as part of the 2014 budget.

The majority of people in attendance at the evening meeting attended a rally outside the township building held by Middletown Township Taxpayers United.

The group opposes implementing an EIT to offset a roughly $4 million deficit in the proposed budget.

A structural imbalance in the General Fund since 2006 has caused problems for the township’s financial health. Reasons for the loss of funds in 2013 include an increase in police pension, healthcare costs and loss of the anticipated $1,300,000 budgeted transfer from the Investment Fund to the General Fund due to poor performance of the Investment Fund, officials said.

Board of Supervisors Chairman Pat Mallon said the township would “basically have to eliminate our township staff and lay off half of our police officers” to meet the $4 million gap. Currently, the proposed budget drops the real estate tax roughly 2 percent.

Mallon told LevittownNow.com the EIT could be lowered in future years if the township’s financial situation improved.

Many of the taxpayers who spoke at the meeting called the tax a 100 percent increase in their bill to the township. Several were also upset because the tax only impacts wage earners. However, township officials have noted that it will have no impact on retired elderly residents or the disabled.

During the rally, Neshaminy School Board member Ritchie Webb, who will be stepping down at the end of the month, urged township supervisors to “take a timeout.” He proposed they should take a year to work more with the public on their budgeting process. Webb suggested setting up a resident advisory committee and covering this year’s budget gap by using funds from the township’s $40 million investment fund, which several board members said they do not want to.

Former Neshaminy School Board member William O’Connor organized the rally and called for residents to work together to fight the increase.

Residents outside the township building voiced concerns they were not happy with the ideas proposed by the Board of Supervisors to fix the deficit

“None of the proposals are solutions – they are band aids,” said Julie Sauerbry-Smith, a former supervisors candidate.

Langhorne section resident Larry Pastor called the EIT a “a lazy politician’s way out” during the public comment portion of the meeting.

Supervisor Robert McMonagle defended the EIT proposal and said he didn’t want to go down of the “slippery slope” of taking from the investment fund, which he said would grow as the economy did.

“Once you start spending down the investment fund, there’s no going back,” McMonagle said.

Supervisor Tom Gallagher suggested previously the tax be out on a referendum to allow residents to vote on it. He reiterated his opposition to the tax.

Residents told supervisors they were not transparent enough and they wished for more time to work on a solution of the budget gap.

Gallagher responded by noting he does not remember a single resident showing up to the budgeting meetings where the “largest tax increase” Middletown has seen was proposed.

By the end of Wednesday’s meeting, residents voiced their frustration and said they would put pressure on the supervisors to reconsider and come up with new ideas before they vote on the tax increase at Monday night’s meeting.