Damascus supervisors worry about tax base

The River Reporter
Thursday, January 8, 1986, pp. 3.

By TOM RUE

DAMASCUS - At its December 16th meeting, the Damascus Township supervisors discussed some of the practical ramifications for township residents if the Wayne Highlands School Board follows through on the recent announcement that it plans to appropriate for its own use half of the Realty Transfer Tax monies. Up until now, these have been applied toward such township expenses as maintenance of public roads, and plowing in bad weather.

Township secretary Charles Rutledge circulated a memorandum from Reg Wayman, chief clerk of the Wayne County Commissioners, which outlined the specifics of the proposed appropriation dated December 13th. In the past, Rutledge explained, Damascus Township has collected a one-percent tax on all real estate transfers taking place within the township. Under the school board's new plan, however, half of this money will go to the schools. Rutledge said that the board of education has had the option of utilizing this money for many years, but has never chosen to do so until now.

According to Elvin Swendsen, township treasurer, this will mean about an $18,000 loss for the township, quite substantial considering the size of the township's budget. Said Swendsen: "The schools can raise taxes much easier than the township, so it's going to present a hardship for the townships and the towns."

Both Rutledge and Swendsen denied that this development would lead to the raising of township taxes, at least in the near future. But when asked if the township would cut the services it provides, Swendsen replied, "This would be a possibility, yes."

Swendsen explained that the Damascus Township roadmasters, who plow the snow in bad weather, have more than 100 miles of road to care fore. When it snows at night, he said, "we incur more overtime hours in order to ensure that the roads are safe for the school buses. It costs a lot extra to have those roads cleaned before the school buses roll."

As a result, Swendsen claimed there may be times when it will be difficult, if not impossible to pay the roadmasters the necessary overtime to begin plowing as early as 3:00 or 4:00 a.m. Wayne-Highland school buses begin pickups around 7:00 a.m.

Ironically, Swendsen said that while the supervisors will continue to make every effort to get the roads cleared on time for the buses to run as scheduled, the board of education's plan to appropriate public road money for its own use could in the long run lead to more frequent delayed openings and cancellations of school because of poor road conditions.

In other business, Rutledge announced that adoption of an ordinance effecting the compensation of the Damascus Township supervisors, in accordance with Act 68 of 1985, would be delayed until December 23rd.

The reason for this delay, Rutledge said, was the failure of The Wayne Independent to publish a legal notice within the time period required by law to allow the supervisors to act on the 16th, as had originally been scheduled. A special meeting of the supervisors is now required in order to complete the formalities necessary for passage of the ordinance before the end of the year.

According to the provisions of Act 68, township supervisors throughout Pennsylvania will now be paid on an annual salaried basis rather than per meeting. Rutledge asserted that the new pay system will not effect attendance by the supervisors, adding that "it's pretty rare that somebody misses a meeting."