Raising Our Taxes To Fund A New Lower Pottsgrove Township Campus

Our Township manager Mr. Edward C. Wagner has agreed to use our tax dollars to fund the purchases of several lived in, long term rental properties and the construction and design of a new township building. We will be seeing a 7.4% tax increase in 2018 thanks to this unnecessary move. They plan to build the huge new office campus on the corner of Pleasentview and E. High St. They have already spend almost half a million dollars on three properties and are in contract to purchase two more for $200,000 within the next month. They are going to knock these homes down in the next year or two and make us all pay for tearing the homes down and building their new campus with a huge tax increase!! During a public records search I also found out that The Township already owns many properties in the area with more than enough acres of usable land for they're "campus". They own several large properties along N. Kiem Street and over 13 acres of land for Gerald Richards Park. I am sure that if they needed a new campus so bad that they could have used some of this property that they already own to do so and save us our tax dollars. I feel it’s extremely unnecessary to build such a large new township building or campus for our small community. The houses that they have recently purchased, spending almost half a million dollars on already, are rental properties. There are families who have lived and rented these homes for a very long time, that will soon be having to find and afford new places to live within the next year or two. We will just have an impending unknown deadline. The children who have grown up in this school district will soon have to try to find new homes within the school district boundaries, which will not be an easy task, if at all even possible. The owners only sold due to the large offer the township gave them despite several of the houses not even being for sale at all. It’s not about giving us time or a heads up, it’s about the fact that we rented these homes under the impression that we’d be living here for a long time. Some of us have rented these homes for over 30 years. I was supposed to raise my kids in this home. The township benefited, the owners benefited, but all of us tenants who live in these homes, get screwed over. It’s not technically illegal what they are doing, it’s just very wrong. We are members of this community. We matter too. They should be compensating or helping find new homes in the area for all the families who rented these homes under the intention to live here long term. I know I spent a lot of money to be able to move into my home and I have no idea how I am going to come up with that kind of money to afford to move again into a new home. When the time comes to leave I will most likely be homeless and have to put all our belongings into a storage unit until I can save up enough money and find a new place for me and my two young children to live. I understand we are just tenants but these are our homes and we wouldn’t be having to move otherwise. In addition to the many families that will lose their homes, the historic value of these properties is also very important. These homes have been a part of the Sanatoga community for over 100 years. These houses were built in the early 1900's and preserving our communities historic value is just as important as the community members livelihoods. These homes were also built with exterior asbestos and if they disturb the homes it will put all surrounding neighbors and the workers employed by the township at high health risks. It can be very dangerous and detrimental to tear down these homes for many reasons. What they are doing is unethical and preposterous. It blows my mind that this was even approved to happen!