It seems as though the local Democrats are desperate to cling to power so they can rule (not govern) Warminster Township. Just today, a mailer was received that had some outrageous claims in it. It seems as those these people really think we’re stupid. At least they didn’t try to claim AGAIN that they didn’t raise our taxes, which we explained last week that just a month in office they voted to increase our taxes by 64%. But, that’s another story.
Here’s the claims being made on their mailer:
Claim 1: Voted for 2 new police officer hires in 2021.
Reality: Seems they forgot to tell you that they spent almost an hour during the 2021 budget presentation telling us that the police are overpaid? Did they forget to tell you that the Warminster Police Department is still understaffed by about a half dozen officers? These “new hires” do not increase the headcount of the police department. They are replacing officers who have retired.
Claim 2 – Are moving foward with hiring 5 new firefighters.
Reality: They also forgot to tell you that they refused to apply for a SAFER grant in 2020 because it would only pay 75% of the salary and benefits for paid firefighters. When the Trump administration changed the rules of that grant to pay 100% of the salary and benefits, the township scrambled to apply. We were awarded $1.7 million to fully pay for firefighters’ salaries and benefits for 3 years. That grant was awarded in September, 2020. Yes, more than a year ago. We’re still no closer to having paid firefighters today than we did in August, 2020. If you don’t believe us, let the Fire Chief tell you.
Claim 3 – …procured funding to remove blighted housing and restore the Shenandoah Woods property to green open space and trails.
Reality: This one is a whopper. The funds for that property were secured years ago. While we support purchasing that property and incorporating it into the Community Park, it comes with a lot of costs. Over $1 million for the property and additional Parks and Rec staff to maintain that property. Much of that is buried in the large debt that we’ll be paying back for decades.
In addition to these whoppers of lies, let us remind you that the current Democrat led Board of Supervisors, including Kathy Frescatore and Mary Owens, voted to raise our taxes by 64%, voted to quadruple the township debt to $15 million, and contrary to their promise of not selling assets, sold the Storm Water System to the WMA. With this sale will soon come a Storm Water Fee (AKA, rain tax), which every property owner will be required to pay. While the fee for a typical homeowner will be roughly an additional $30/quarter, you’ll be paying for this in other ways. The bulk of this fee will be paid for by the largest property owners in the township. This includes the School District, which will be paid for with your school tax dollars, the township, which will use our local tax dollars, commercial property owners, who will raise rents on businesses, and that will be passed on to the consumers in the form of higher prices. Even the Water Authority will have to pay this fee, which be paid for using money we pay in water and sewer rates and fees. Unlike property taxes, religious and non-profit organizations will not be exempt from paying this fee, so when places like Nativity of Our Lord Parish, Archbishop Wood, Christ Home and Ann’s Choice have to pay a large fee, those fees will be paid for in higher tuition or rent charges. The devil is always in the details, and details are something that the Democrats feel you don’t need to know, or they believe you’re too stupid to understand.
Fixing problems by raising taxes seems to be what Democrats do best. For example, in Warminster, the Demorats held the marjority on the Board of Supervisors from 2008 through 2011, and during that time local taxes were increased by 41% (2001). Betweeen 2012 and 2019, the Republicans held the majority, and during that time they held the line on tax increases. In 2020, the Democrats won back the majority and immediately increased local taxes by 35%. They originally voted to increase taxes by 64%, but the sale of the storm water system allowed that increase to be ONLY 35%. As we explained above, the repercussions of that sale will soon be felt by all of the Warminster taxpayers, water rate payers and anyone who lives or shops in Warminster.
This graph shows the municipal tax rate since 2008. One mill equal $1 of tax for every $1,000 of assessed value of your property.
Comments