Nick & Trudy Vandekar

The Easttown Township supervisors meeting scheduled for November 2nd is to be held at Beaumont Elementary School starting at 8 PM with a working session beginning at 7.15 PM. On the agenda will be a combination of the expenses and revenue for the township budget, including discussion of additional taxes including an earned income tax.

The last supervisors meeting was also held at the school across the road from the township building and there was spirited discussion on the subject of the earned income tax. Whilst the township is proposing a 1% earned income tax to increase revenues due to the drop in the budget from Real Estate Transfer Taxes due to a sharp decrease in real estate sales, many of those residents speaking pointed out this would produce a much bigger increase in revenus than was needed and that what needed to be addressed was cuts to the budget. Obviously an earned income tax will affect both residents and those working on the township. Many townships already have have earned income taxes in their budgets. How this has or would affect property values is a question that has been put forward but to which there are no statistics to prove one way or another that the writer knows about.

This meeting on November 2nd will be to bring together projections and suggestions on both sides of the budget with a final meeting proposed for November 19th to decide on final budget. Easttown Township furloghed their office staff this year.

THe Easttown Township Supervisors meeting to consider Earned Income Tax held October 19th at Beaumont School across from the township building the discussion was all about the budget and the proposal from the Supervisors to consider implementing an Earned Income Tax or other taxes, such as an amusement tax, per capita tax, and several other options.

There was some confusion among residents as this was the second of several meetings on the budget discussing the hole in the budget that needs to be filled, either through cuts or increased revenue. At the previous meeting the discussion was on the expenses side and this meeting was to deal with revenue options. However it quickly becasme clear from residents comments they felt the Board of Supervisors needed to consider cuts to the budget before considering increased revenue streams.

Whilst it was a pretty vocal meeting with a lot of passion, the board of Supervisors did vote to continue to keep all their options open for increasing revenue. As was explained by Mr Rau the Township Attorney, legal issues require them to begin advertising these possible tax increases to be able to implement them for the next fiscal year, as the state needs to be notified so employers are aware that they need to collect these taxes on behalf of the township.

The next meeting will be held November 2nd advertised last night to be at Hilltop House, although this may need to moved to accomodate the numbers of people who will turn up. This meeting will combine the proposed expenses and the proposed revenue to agree upon a way forward.

One of the parties to speak last night was a residents advisory group who have been and will continue to meet with the township employees to see where savings can be made as opposed to increasing revenue. So save the date November 2nd 8.00 PM Easttown Township Supervisors Meeting at Hilltop House, Berwyn.

Easttown township is considering a potential earned income tax to balance the budget that has been affected so dramtically by the drop in home sales in the township. Already staff do not work Fridays having been furloughed several months ago to save costs but the dramatic drop in home sales has still left the budget with big holes.

The Borad of Supervisors has announed recently their intention to levy an earned income tax following a public meeting on October 19th at 8 PM at Beaumont Elementary School. Many residents at the October 5th Board of Supervisors meeting voiced their concern that the township has yet to consider all the alternatives, exploring other revenue streams and cutting expesnes further.

So, if you have any interest in Easttown Township as a businessman or resident you will want to be present at the meeting on the 19th of October.

Time is running out rapidly if you want to take advantage of the First Time buyers Tax Credit. All our mortgage providers have been telling and warning us to get our buyers under contract by this week to make sure that their settlements can be completed no later than November 30th.

You cannot afford delays with settlement to get the credit. You must settle on or before November 30th. It is a little misleading when people talk about December 1st as that is too late and you will not qualify for the credit.

Will it be extended? Who knows, there is talk coming out of Washington this week that it will be extended and maybe even expanded to all buyers, but the safest option is to act now, get out with your buyers agent and look at properties, make sure your mortgage application documents are all in order and act now.

I had the privilege today to present Candidate Sean Moir with a check from SERPAC in support of his campaign to be elected as Tredyffrin Township Supervisor. Sean has been vocal in his support in Preserving Resources, Stream Restoration at Crabby Creek, Sidewalk improvements in the Tredyffrin Township and has served on several committees. for more information visit www.SeanMoir.org and remember to vote on November 3rd 2009.