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Politics & Government

Marple Commissioners Approve Proposed 1.8% Property Tax Increase for 2012

Seventh Ward Commissioner Daniel Leefson said at a special Budget & Finance meeting on Dec. 5th that Marple's tax rate is "still less than the neighbors that border us, except for Newtown."

BROOMALL–The Board of Commissioners on Monday night voted 6-1 to advertise a proposed 2012 property tax rate increase of 1.8 percent, which would amount to a $16 annual increase for a resident with a home assessed at $200,000.

Fifth Ward Commissioner John Longacre II cast the dissenting vote, which was held during a Special Budget & Finance meeting, after the board’s work session meeting on Monday night.

“Everyone knows I’m opposed to this,” Longacre said. “I don’t think we need to do this.”

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Seventh Ward Commissioner Daniel Leefson said the , but they did not advertise it due to concerns about township finances.

State law prohibits the board from approving a tax increase which is higher than what it publically advertised, Leefson said.

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 “Whatever we advertise at, we can always go down (in terms of the tax increase),” Leefson said. “We can’t go up.”   

The average assessed home in Marple Township is $161,000, said township Director of Finance Edward O’Lone.

Leefson asked how much taxes would increase for a house assessed at $200,000, if the board approved the 1.8 percent increase.

O’Lone said a homeowner with a property assessed at $200,000 would see their taxes increase about $16 for the year.

In addition, O’Lone said he had originally proposed a , which would amount to an annual increase of about $30 per homeowner but refinancing saved the township money and caused him to change his recommendation to a 1.8 percent increase.

During public comment, John Butler, a former Marple Township commissioner, said he was opposed to the tax increase.

Butler criticized the township’s handling of expenditures and said non-union employees should not get raises this year.

“Expenditures from this year to last year went up 7 percent,” Butler said.  “We have a spending problem here.”

Leefson said the board had inherited several commitments from contracts made in the past.

“We’re cutting as much as we can cut. Our tax rate is still less than the neighbors that border us, except for Newtown,” Leefson said.

The board has 21 days to approve the proposed 2012 budget as advertised.

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