Galloway Council Approves Borrowing $2.14 Million to Cover Tax Appeals

Following a year in which it received over 2,000 tax appeals, Galloway Township decided a hybrid tax reassessment was in order.

That reassessment took place throughout the course of the year, and is expected to bring a stabilized tax rate to the township in 2014.

On Monday night, the township took another step toward putting the tax appeals in the rearview mirror, but it’s going to come at a high cost to the taxpayers of Galloway Township.

Council voted 5-1 in favor of an ordinance allowing the township to borrow $2,145,000 to pay back residents who won their appeals during Monday night’s meeting at the municipal complex. Councilman Jim McElwee voted against the measure. Councilman Tom Bassford was absent.

“You file a tax appeal, you win, but the township doesn’t have the money to pay it, so they have to borrow it and they raise taxes,” McElwee said. “It’s a vicious cycle.”

“The ramifications are greater than if we support it,” said Councilman Jim Gorman, who opposed the ordinance when it was introduced at a special meeting on Nov. 7. “I don’t support it, and I think the burden should be shared on all parts. But if we vote against it, we destroy anything Galloway Township has done in the past.”

Council also approved support for two bills circulating in the state legislature currently that would remove the burden of collecting uncollected taxes.

Bills S-1896 and A-1503 call for holding the county and the school district accountable for their share of uncollected taxes.

“Right now, tax payers are paying twice,” Mayor Don Purdy said. “They’re paying once and they’re paying a second time for their neighbor who abandoned their home because it was in foreclosure.”

The Galloway Township and Greater Egg Harbor Regional school districts account for 68 percent of the residents’ tax bill. Members of council recognized the need to continue to provide a strong education for the children of the school districts while at the same time holding the districts responsible for their spending.

“We’ve made some tough decisions with furloughs and layoffs. We have nothing left to give and nowhere left to cut,” Deputy Mayor Tony Coppola said. “Our schools are top notch and we want them to stay that way, but we also want them to be responsible.”

All members agreed economic development was the ultimate key to recovery. Purdy referenced a senior rehabilitation center that went before the Zoning Board last Thursday. He added the new business would be paying taxes.

Residents questioned council members as to why nothing had been done over the past few years to stiffen the blow that was being delivered to the township’s taxpayers.

“We knew it was coming, but we didn’t know how bad it was going to be,” Purdy said.

The alternative to the bond ordinance would be to make further reductions in staffing. Township Manager Arch Liston said in that scenario, the police force would be reduced to about 30 people and the township employees would be reduced to statutory levels, meaning about five or six employees would remain.

Liston added that without the 2 percent cap, the township could raise taxes as it needed to. The cap prevents municipalities from raising what it needs to all at once, allowing debt to build.

“It’s a crazy system,” Liston said.

Purdy pointed to the cutting the township has already made.

“We have to have sewer and we had to get police cars,” Purdy said, adding that the township has been taking recommendations from the various volunteer fire departments when it comes to replacing trucks.

“But everything else (as far as capital improvements) have been cut. Last year, we spent between $500,000 and $700,000 on the roads program. We’re not doing that this year.”