Now is no time to raise taxes

To the Editor,

I appreciate all the fine work Swarthmore Borough does, and the necessity of paying for those things that make Swarthmore a pleasant place to live. But in the midst of the current economic crisis, Borough Council’s apparent desire to increase taxes (“Council Weighs 2021 Tax Hike,” November 6) seems remarkable.

Millions are losing their jobs, having their hours cut, and seeing their incomes reduced. Many more are facing increased childcare costs while our schools remain mostly closed. The Delaware County property tax reassessment is coming. Against this backdrop, and with inflation close to 1%, offering pay raises (the council calls them “cost-of-living raises”) twice that amount does not seem reasonable.

I won’t for one minute dispute the advantages and promise of solar power, but is this the year to insist residents pay for installation of solar panels that will provide just a fraction of the energy needs of borough buildings?

The suggestion that we should increase revenues by implementing a 1% wage tax (falling squarely on the shoulders of wage-earning families) is alarming. For some residents who work in municipalities that already have such taxes, this would merely shift where their wage tax goes, but for many Swarthmoreans it would be a brand new tax. How much more money are residents expected to pay when we already have some of the highest combined school and municipal taxes in the commonwealth?

The borough has tough choices to make, and perhaps tax increases are indeed unavoidable. But, with some exceptions, it seems to me the bulk of the council’s focus at their November 2 meeting was on ways to spend money and increase revenue, not on reducing or eliminating costs.

I urge all council members to vote against any increase in taxes during the present public health emergency and economic recession.

Neil Young
Swarthmore