VIDEO: The State of Middle Township

Video by Bryon Cahill.
SWAINTON – The Middle Township Chamber of Commerce hosted a dinner for local businesses Feb. 20. The event, held at the Links of Avalon, allowed Mayor Timothy Donohue the opportunity to deliver a “state of Middle Township address.”
“All of our businesses are the bread and butter of our town,” Donohue said. “We always need to remember that. The businesses are the wheels turning behind everything that keep our town humming and makes this a great place to live.”
Donohue’s premise was that a well-run town attracts and retains well-run businesses.
Based on a recent survey of business-owners it was learned that, “nobody said the business climate is excellent. But 40 percent of local businesses rated the business climate in Middle as ‘good,’ 34 percent said ‘fair’ and 25 percent said ‘poor.’” One of the questions in the survey was, ‘What are some of the biggest challenges in your business.’ One of the biggest responses, Donohue said, was ‘the income level of our customers.’ Donohue stressed the fact that he wanted more business owners to take the survey. It can be found on the Middle Township Chamber of Commerce web site at www.mtcc4u.com.
Donohue commended the Economic Development Committee for its hard work. “They do a lot. They did a market study, put together a great website. We have the information about the tax abatement rebate program. There’s a lot of moving parts.”
Middle Township’s vision, Donohue said, is to create a desirable place to live, work and have fun. “We should be a tourist town. But we’re not a beach town. We have an east coast and a west coast; we need to embrace that.”
Donohue said the township has “tried to control spending while initiating personnel changes, refinancing some debt, and cleaning up a big mess in our sewer billing department, resolved some lingering legal issues, and we’ve acted responsibly with affordable housing.”
From 2006-2011, the property tax levy doubled, Donohue reported. The average increase in spending over that time period was 11.42 percent over that time period. In 2012, the levy dropped to just slightly under the 2010 levy and last year, it was slightly higher but still under the all time high in 2011. “So I’m sorry we’re not cutting your taxes, but we have put the brakes on that spending. If the historical increases had continued, the levy would be about $2.6 million higher now than it actually is.”
Donohue explained that the township controls only the municipal purpose portion of taxes, which is about 26 percent of the whole; the school tax, fire tax, library tax and county tax are the remaining parts. “We don’t control those. We’d like to be able to sit down with all these taxing authorities, and say, ‘What is our goal together? What is a fair and equitable tax rate for our town?’ But I don’t see that happening any time soon. But we are doing the best that we can with the 26 percent that we control.”
Charles Raff of Raff Recycling pressed Donohue on this point. “So you’re telling me that you have no control over the board of education and all the 50 percent of my taxes I pay to the school?”
“I have the same control as you have as a voter and taxpayer,” Donohue replied. “I have no control over the school board’s tax rate.”
James Rixey of Rixey Real Estate also expressed concern on the issue. “You’re the mayor of the township. You have a voice and you should make that voice heard to the school board to keep our taxes down. People are moving out of this township.
People cannot afford to live here. It’s getting too darn expensive to live here. It’s not your fault because you’re doing all the right things to lower the tax rate and keep us stable. But I think the school board is out of control.”
“Well, that’s your opinion…” Donohue said.
“That’s my opinion?” Rixey asked rhetorically. “That’s my business! I’m in the real estate business. I see it. It’s a fact.”
“I talk to members of the school board a lot,” Donohue said. “We have a lot of common interests and share a lot of common projects. They are aware of my position on the school tax but they need to hear it from a lot of other people besides me.”
“If everybody in this room has an issue with that 53 percent of school tax,” added Eileen Durham, a resident, “then how come I haven’t seen the majority of you at a school board meeting to sit down and voice your opinion?”
“I’ll tell you what, showing up is a big part of it,” Donohue agreed.
Moving on to discuss recent personnel changes, Donohue said the most important new hire was Connie Mahon, the new township administrator. “We had a really hard time prying Connie away from Cape May Point. She had this idyllic life down there as the clerk. But we talked her into it. Connie is very well respected and well connected in the county and at the state level,” he said.
Donohue also highlighted a few other new hires and said that, without naming names, in the past, the township had hired people who “weren’t really trained for the job and never really got a lot of training on the job. … We’re really emphasizing giving people the opportunity to build their value now. It’s more of a private sector approach. We’re saying, ‘Look, we’re gonna help you build your value to the taxpayer and that’s how you’re going to get a raise – not just by being here another year.”
Concerning the sewer billing, the township had a rate hike of 25 percent in 2010. That happened because there was poor management of the sewer billing function, there was too much debt accumulating too quickly and there was uneven enforcement of the sewer ordinance, Donohue said. “We had a lot of residents who live in the sewer area which requires a hookup within 90 days who never hooked up, we had residents that were hooked up but were leaving on weekends who were paying in cash and we had residents and business owners who were never billed. All that adds up to… we’re not sharing the cost of the sewer evenly, as we should be. So we ended up raising the sewer rate. We took a hard look at all that and took the billing function away from the sewer department.” Donohue explained that they moved the sewer billing into the tax office, gave a stipend to the tax collector and deputy tax collector to take over that function. By revising the billing process and putting the new ordinance in place, the township will increase sewer billing compliance from $3.8 million in 2012 to a projected $4.4 million in 2014. The refinancing of the sewer debt will save the township over $1.4 million in debt service over the next 30 years.
Concerning lawsuits, Donohue spoke about legal issues the township faced with affordable housing. “I think we did it in the best way possible. There is a need for this in our town and I think a lot of people will agree. I know my own son, who has a winter rental in Avalon, he’s doing well in his field but he can’t afford $1,200 a month to rent a small house in Middle Township so when people ask me who is going to live here I say, well my son could live here, young professionals, kids coming out of college and workforce housing. When people look for a place to open a business, they are looking for towns that have a stable housing supply for their workforce.”
Donohue stated that the township has “started a conversation about health care. Last year, there was a 35 percent increase in health care costs. To me, health care is a very personal thing and it means different things to different people at different times in their lives. So we want to give our town hall employees a choice for health care.”
Recreational development opportunities look good, according to Donohue. He announced that there is “about to be a major expansion in the recreation department.” The Fort Apache recreation complex is going to be developed to include soccer tournaments, a full-sized disc-golf course, mulch trails, a fishing pier, stocked lake and a building. The development of the site will be funded by the Open Space preservation fund. “The freeholders should be finalizing this April 8, after public comments are closed.”
Economic development opportunities also look good. Donohue mentioned a few new businesses that have come to town in the last few years, including Big Lots and Verizon Wireless. Donohue also brought up the proposed Walmart expansion, saying, “If Walmart thinks they should expand in our town, they must think our economic picture looks pretty good.”
Donohue said that the township’s main goal is “to have a thriving community with a stable tax base. We want to attract new businesses and retain the businesses we have. We are working hard to make our town more attractive and we’re in your corner.”
To contact Bryon Cahill, email bcahill@cmcherald.com.