To the editor:, I am writing in regard to recent HVN articles on Hopewell Township’s 2017 budget., First and foremost, I want to commend Mayor Kuchinski and the entire township committee for delivering a fiscally responsible budget that limits our 2017 tax increase to 1.7 percent. Over the past two years of Democratic leadership, the committee has lowered the average annual tax increase to less than 1.2 percent, which is well-below the state’s 2 percent cap, not to mention the +6.3 percent average increases from 2012 to 2015 under Republican leadership., This is a big improvement., Like a homeowner with a home equity loan costing 3.5 percent, it does not make sense to keep extra monies in a low-interest savings account earning less than 1 percent. These monies are better-used to reduce debt. By not taking out new debt to fund $1.55 million in new capital equipment in 2017, township residents will save an additional $360,000 in interest costs over time., The township’s recent partnership with the school district has freed up $2 million that now can be returned to taxpayers, and I for one am glad to see it being returned vs. being held in township accounts., Second, I wanted to dispute the HVN reporter’s focusing almost solely on “concerns arising over budget surplus risk.” I attended the March 27 township committee meeting where the budget was introduced, and I listened to numerous residents who spoke out in favor of the budget and its prudent return of excess surplus to residents through reduced debt. (Did the reporter and I attend the same meeting?), The only objector I heard was Harvey Lester. Mr. Lester, who famously switched parties in 2015 so that he could become mayor, is once again proving how little he knows about budget management. After he voted three times for significant tax increases, residents voted him out in 2015. While he has every right to speak, the HVN reporter is ignoring other viewpoints., Billie Moore, Hopewell Township
