Middletown Drops EIT by .5%

Middletown Township Board of Supervisors Chairman Pat Mallon said it best – “Nobody likes tax increases.” That was made was crystal clear Thursday night during the public comment portion of the board meeting.

Middletown taxpayers making over $12,000 a year will now have to fork over .5 percent of their income to the township under the new earned income tax (EIT,) which was reduced from 1 percent after a public outcry. Under the amended budget, $2 million will be transferred from the municipality’s $39 million investment fund and real estate millage rates will stay the same as they were last year. The property tax bill will be just north of $500 for the average assessed home.

The amended budget was approved 3-2 by the all Republican board. Mallon, Drew Kreiling and George Leonhauser all voted for the budget. Board members Tom Gallagher, who was has stated he is against any EIT at this time, and newcomer Bill Oettinger voted against the amendment.

Gallagher made a motion to take away the EIT, draw $1 million from the investment fund and increase property taxes by 2 mills, which is about $5 more a month. He also asked for monthly budget meetings to be held by the township and public so Middletown does not find themselves with a budget gap in 2015. Despite cheers from the audience, Gallagher’s motion died.

Oettinger then made a motion to reopen the 2014 budget for a few weeks to see if anything else could be trimmed. The motion was not seconded. Solicitor Joseph Pizzo checked the second-class township code and said he was not sure reopening the budget again could even be done under the state law. He said he would look further into the matter after Gallagher raised the question.

Middletown Resident Group Becomes Political Action Committee

When asked by residents, officials said the EIT was the result of a multi-year structural fund imbalance in the community. Increased contributions to pension and healthcare costs, sluggish performance of the investment fund and shrinking tax income were blamed. 

Mallon defended the EIT and said it was fair because it taxed based on income. He said the other option to the EIT was making “drastic” cuts to important services.

Residents once again railed against the board for approving the EIT.

Many residents spoke out against township manger Steaphanie Teoli Kuhls’ salary and $7,200 car allowance. Several also spoke about the amount of money budgeted toward police and other emergency services. One man suggested that five police vehicles responding to one accident Thursday morning may have been excessive.

Kuhls said the township has reduced full-time staff by 12 in the past five years and is planning to offer retirement incentives for at least two more workers in the next year.

The EIT’s impact on property values was questioned by one unidentified resident. Township officials have previously said 95 percent of townships in the state have an EIT and realtors have told them EITs play little role on home values.

Outspoken Middletown Taxpayers United member Larry Pastor once again called for Mallon to resign. He reasons were simple: Mallon and others on the board mislead voters by talking up how few tax increases the township has had. He also has said in the past the board is not transparent enough.

Mallon said to Pastor he never like bullies as a kid and he didn’t like them as an adult.

A Richboro resident, who was raised in Middletown’s Levittown section and served as a township police officer for five years, spoke at the meeting. He said the board did what they had too. He also called out the public for a “lack of civility” toward township officials at the meetings. One man in the audience said it was “bullsh*t” because the speaker wasn’t even a township resident and walked out.

MTU Chairman Jerry Hoffman said the township had a problem in their budget and needed to fix it. He also asked officials to review the budget again and questioned subscriptions to periodicals, TMA Bucks and other items. 

The board will meet again February 3 at 7:30 p.m. in the township building.

Previous:

• Residents Upset About New Tax Turn Backs on Supervisors
• Residents to Rally Before Middletown Meeting on Monday
• Middletown Plans to Lower Controversial New Tax
• Citizen Group to Continue Fight Against Board Members Who Voted to Raise Taxes
• Controversial Tax Increase in Middletown Approved
• Residents Come out to Oppose Middletown Tax Increase