Group to start push for tax relief

From the BCCT.

Group to start push for tax relief
Some residents are fed up over rising school taxes.
By AMANDA CREGAN
STAFF WRITER

Fed up with what they see as skyrocketing property taxes, bloated school budgets and outof-control teachers contracts, a grassroots group of Quakertown Community School District parents and taxpayers decided Thursday night that enough was enough.

More than 20 community members assembled for a first organizational meeting at Arianna Miles, a former restaurant in Haycock Township that is closed for renovations and set to open as a bed and breakfast this summer.

“Part of what we want to do is just to make the board hear us and make them understand we’re not just going to roll over and let them do what they want. They need to understand they represent us,” said Kim Pacella, a Haycock resident.

Helen Kondracki says she’s been diligently attending and speaking up at school board meetings for 10 years seeking change for seniors and pushing for more transparent financial decisions, to no avail.

Rising property taxes are forcing seniors out of their homes throughout the Quakertown School District, she said.

“We’ve got three (school board) members looking out for our interest and the rest are looking out for the administrator, and the way we’re going we’ll never get property tax relief,” said the Haycock resident, speaking of the nine member board.

School board member George Dager attended Thursday’s meeting.

Jill Wooden, who initiated the gathering, says she’s tired of parents who complain about rising costs but back down when the superintendent mentions cutting programs instead.

“I know a lot of people in this community who are on fixed incomes and some who can’t afford food. I’m here for them as well. The district dangles in front of us saying, ‘Then we’ll have to cut programs.’ Then cut them!” she said.

Quakertown district officials are facing a tough budget year.

The $86.9 million preliminary budget calls for a $211 increase for the average homeowner. Last year, the district hiked taxes by $156 for the average homeowner.

To present an early 2009-10 budget in the black, Quakertown had to draw its fund balance down to nearly zero to cover a $3.8 million deficit.

The final budget will be adopted in May.

Until then, parents and taxpayers vowed Thursday night to begin working to help pare down the budget by joining school budget committees and funneling ideas created in the grassroots group meetings into the district.

They also plan to hone in on upcoming school board elections and next year’s teachers contract renewal.

The group will work toward long-term goals aimed at property tax reform in Harrisburg.

“Until the Legislature makes a change and makes a cap, you’re going to sit here for however many more years and say the same thing,” said Haycock Supervisor Chairwoman Kathleen Babb. “The Legislature does not put through meaningful tax reform. We have been fighting for tax reform for 25 years.”

But here and now, residents say something has to be done to get school spending under control. Haycock resident Wooden says change starts with them.

“Far too long in this country people have been busy making a living and doing for their family, but we as a populace have forgotten how to be a community,” she said. “We only have each other. As neighbors, we need to stand each other up in tough times.”

The group will next meet on April 16.