To the Editor:
I had the opportunity to attend a recent Upper Township Committee meeting. During the public comment period a resident asked about the validity of a published graphic showing that Upper Township had the dubious distinction of the highest municipal tax rate change in the entire county in 2023. It was listed as a whopping 11.1%. The committee’s response was an interesting combination of more smoke than a Canadian forest fire, claims of fake news, and literally suggesting it was not a factual representation.
As a little seventh grade math was able to prove, the claim is dead-on accurate. Yes, our municipal taxes are a smaller part of a total tax bill that in combination went up 3.81% for the year in question, but they also represent 35% of that total increase. It is a larger dollar amount this year than the school district increase.
What should concern all of us is that the committee does not seem willing to articulate a plan that either raises new revenue, controls costs, or improves processes. In the private sector two quarters of these types of numbers, let alone the two years of increases the township property owners have experienced, would cost you your job. It is just too easy in the public sector to twist the tax increase knob when revenue falls short.
I understand that costs are rising, that medical benefits are mandated, etc. Sounds like the business and operational pressures the rest of the world experiences and somehow figures out how to navigate. Municipalities have so few options to improve their top line that some tax increases are inevitable. Shouldn’t those types of increases be more of a temporary step in a larger plan to get us to the next goal? No question they should, but it means our leaders first need to have a plan. Yesterday.
MIKE HALPERN
Upper Township
