Moorestown Resident Pushes Back On 'Rain Tax' Nickname

MOORESTOWN, NJ - Moorestown resident Brian Lestini has come out in defense of the Clean Stormwater Flood and Reduction Act, which has been nicknamed by some as a "rain tax." His letter to the editor can be found below:

One need only look at the condition of waterways like Strawbridge Lake, or increases in road flooding in town, to know that Moorestown has a stormwater problem. Overdevelopment and increasing trends in rainfall have left us with the serious issue of more - and more polluted - runoff.

In 2018, statewide average precipitation was higher than in 2011, the year Tropical Storms Irene and Lee hit New Jersey. Our Public Works department and our budget are straining to deal with the problem.

Yet we continue to see and hear misleading and factually incorrect nicknames (like “rain tax”) applied to the recently implemented Clean Stormwater Flood and Reduction Act. This nickname was crafted by its detractors, and has been irresponsibly perpetuated in the media and by some local leaders.

However, far from a tax, the Act is actually the opposite; it is an optional means for municipalities to recover a proportionate amount of funds from major contributors to stormwater runoff (mainly large developments), rather than distribute costs to taxpayers and ratepayers as a whole.

The Act is a great opportunity for municipalities to leverage a potential source of revenue, as an alternative to increasing municipal debt or placing additional disproportionate burden on taxpayers and ratepayers. It is only responsible that Moorestown thoroughly evaluate options under the Act.

It may be right for us, or not – but for the sake of taxpayers, we should not throw the proverbial baby out with the stormwater.