Letter to the Editor: A Message to the Moorestown BOE About Proposed Tax Increase

Good Morning:

I have been informed that the Board is going to pass a 4% tax increase as well as a $100 surcharge (with a $250 cap) per student for activity fees.

This is completely unacceptable.

Moorestown residents pay exorbitant taxes, well over 60% of which is allocated towards the school system. The issue is not money; the issue is complete and utter misallocation of funds. The answer is not to simply throw more money at the problem but to effectively manage the monies already there.

Any member of the BOE who is “on board” for this needs to tender their immediate resignation. Your role on this board is to effectively advocate for the children of Moorestown. Demanding more money is simply an ineffective panacea for a larger problem at hand: gross misallocation of funds and ineffective administrators at the helm.

Rest assured, your tenure on this board will be extremely short-lived with a “yes” vote in this regard.

As certain members seem to have lost their vision, allow me to furnish it:

Your role on this board is to ensure the success of every child in this town – that means the kids who not only come from the million dollar homes, but the children who also climb onto the buses in front of their apartment complex.

Consider the reality of the fact that increasing taxes and applying an activity surcharge will guarantee that certain families (and more than you clearly believe, let me assure you) will no longer be able to fund their children in sports and activities.

I know for a fact that one member has claimed that she “works for her children”.

It is time to work for all children, members of the BOE.

A yes vote for a tax increase as well as activity fee will ensure that the door to sports and activities is firmly closed for a large number of Moorestown children.

The most glaring disgrace is the fact that I needed to forward this communication.

VOTE NO.

Michelle J. Klein