The property taxpayers have spoken. Despite warnings of having to pay for trash pickup, layoffs and the elimination of the Recreation Department, they don’t want to pay more taxes.
By a more than 2-to-1 margin, they voted on Tuesday to overwhelmingly reject an additional 9 cents on the municipal tax rate.
In a much larger turnout than in most school elections, the tax referendum question brought out thousands of voters. The vote was 2,501 to 1,282 against the proposal.
Voters also rejected the Lawrence Township Board of Education’s proposed $58 million tax levy to support the school budget by 1,982 to 1,770 votes.
The votes are sure to disappoint municipal and school officials.
Municipal Manager Richard Krawczun worked especially hard to convince voters to approve the referendum by holding three public forums where he attempted to explain the need for the 9-cent hike and answer questions from residents.
The Township Council was in favor of putting the referendum on the ballot to avoid, as one member put it, dismantling the township.
But it was not enough to convince voters who have been facing their own hardships during the recession. Some are without jobs. Those who do have jobs often have not seen a raise in years or, due to increased health care costs, seen their take-home pay decline. All around them expenses are growing, especially in gasoline prices.
A 9-cent hike was simply too much for them to take.
Now they will look to the elected leaders and the municipal manager to balance the books, and in a way that won’t dismantle the township.
Having residents pay for garbage collection is one option that has been discussed.
Eliminating the Recreation Department was floated during the campaign to convince voters to approve the tax hike. So was laying off police officers.
No one wants to see either of those things happen, although the latter might be a possibility.
The reality is that the leaders of the community are now faced with a difficult task: listen to the voters and make cuts and adjustments in the budget in creative ways that will minimize the impact on the community.
