EDITORIAL
By Ruth Luse
One of the more interesting outcomes of the Nov. 2 election in Hopewell Township was the defeat of the 1-cent recreation tax-rate proposal.
Frankly, if given a choice, we would have expected many local voters to nix the open-space tax-rate increase even though the township’s fund is broke rather than the chance to raise extra money for obvious recreation needs. Good thing we didn’t take bets on that one. We’d have lost our shirts.
Not one of Hopewell Township’s 11 voting districts gave this new tax plan a nod. For comparison’s sake, voters in six of the 11 supported the open-space tax increase. However, the majority of voters in Districts 1, 3, 7, 9 and 11 did not.
Oddly enough, on Friday, just days after the election, a group of senior citizens gathered at Pennington Presbyterian Church to learn about the senior center in West Windsor Township with an eye toward seeing a similar one created here in Hopewell Valley. While money from a recreation tax eventually might have helped local seniors realize this dream, it could not have been counted upon to provide all the funding needed. Other already well-publicized needs probably would have been first in line.
We believe in open space preservation. But, we also believe in providing spaces for people not just children to spend their leisure time in pursuit of some sports or recreation activity. The highly stressful society in which we live calls for better, more healthy uses of what leisure time we have. And we don’t include surfing the Internet among them.
We suspect one reason why the new recreation tax plan was defeated was because people are disgusted with taxes any taxes. People have become accustomed to cries for open-space preservation. But many locals, with all the talk about football and Back Timberlane fields during the past few years, probably are turned off on the idea of spending more money for sports. They tend to forget that "recreation" means more than just sports.
We are sorry the proposal went down to defeat. We think it’s a tax that’s needed. We don’t think those who hoped it would pass worked hard enough prior to the election to sell it to local voters. Little was said about the plan on these pages before Nov. 2.
In the future, perhaps, township officials should take another crack at getting the tax passed. As the township, and thus the Valley, continues to grow, we think it would be wise to have a fund dedicated to recreation.