A Question About Raising Taxes

By Oliver Douglas "Doug" Smith, Jr.

The decision to raise taxes has to be reached by a majority of the supervisors before it could be passed.

The West Brandywine Taxpayer must be provided the information regarding the need to raise taxes, and the consequences for not doing so.

The West Brandywine Taxpayer must communicate concerns to the Supervisors.

The Supervisors must vote according to what is best for the township and residents.

Can you commit to not raising taxes? - West Brandywine Township Resident

Here is my honest response to this no-win question:

No Supervisor alone can make that type of overall commitment.

For the Township Supervisors to say that they can commit to not raising taxes is just flat out irresponsible. No one supervisor can raise taxes. The way that the Township Code for Second Class Townships is set up, you need a majority vote of Supervisors to raise taxes, so a majority of Supervisors would need to feel that this was necessary for the good of the township.

In my discussions with both the police department and with our public works department, they are both running on a shoestring.

Police Department - We currently have 4 full time police officers, when by FBI standards a township of this size (7,755) should have at least 7 full time police officers. Frequently our officers are running one officer on the street during a shift. This is very dangerous for the police officer and the residents when backup response is unpredictable, and when there may be multiple needs in our township at the same time.

Public Works - Our public works department has very little funds available to them to replace equipment. There is no depreciation plan in place currently to ensure that old equipment is replaced on a predictable schedule. Our township is in need of a backhoe now.

Fire and EMS departments provide a fantastic volunteer service to our community, yet they are underfunded. Protecting and supporting the volunteer system is paramount. Should it collapse, a paid emergency response system would be immeasurable in terms of cost to the taxpayer.

The Supervisors over the last several years have not raised taxes, but the question that I would ask is, have they managed the township well?

Is our infrastructure in sound financial shape? Are our roads being taken care proactively? Have the township supervisors done what is best for the taxpayers and the employees of the township by not raising taxes?

If I am elected, after I have the opportunity to assess what our current situation looks like, I may be able to make the claim that I will not raise taxes, but I will not insult the intelligence of the West Brandywine Tax Payer by making that type of promise now.

As a resident of West Brandywine Township, I do not want to pay higher taxes and I do not want my fellow residents to pay higher taxes. In that light, I will not under any circumstance commit to raising taxes in our township without going public with it and having a public hearing on it.

I believe that the Township Supervisors serve and are accountable to the West Brandywine taxpayer to be a wise stuart of tax payer dollars. This includes making hard decisions on taxes and spending.

The taxpayers of this township must be provided the opportunity to hear and digest all information related to the need for a tax increase, and the consequences for not doing so. Once well informed, the taxpayer communicates to the Supervisors what their wishes are, and the Supervisor(s) must make decisions based on the majority wishes of the tax payer and in adherence to the Code for Townships of the Second Class.