Shakespeare wrote in Romeo and Juliet, "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet". Translation: what matters is what something is, not what it is called. So, Quakertown residents, wake up and smell the tax increases.
Wait! Didn't borough council claim (yet again) just last week that there have been no tax increases since Methuselah was in diapers? The 19th century social critic, John Ruskin, had the response: "The essence of lying is in deception, not in words". Put more succinctly, Bullcrunch! Your taxes are not just being raised, they are being skyrocketed. And it's been happening every year recently, often more than once a year, despite what the Juliets on council are soliloquizing.
Decades ago, Qtown's elected leaders were men of foresight. They built an electric plant, power lines, and a water and sewer system that included a wastewater treatment plant. Not only did these facilities allow borough citizens to receive their utilities at a low rate, but those services were also sold to surrounding communities at a profit. That is the kind of wisdom that councils are elected to provide.
At the end of every year, the accumulated money was taken from the electric, water, and sewer funds, and mixed with other town revenue, including taxes. And that additional income allowed councils to avoid dreaded property tax increases. Everything was fine, as long as the utility money rolled in.
Unfortunately, later councils - and borough managers - were not as insightful, or as smart. They cared only about the present, raking in the payments, but not spending what was necessary on maintenance. The borough's infrastructure fell into disrepair. The water pipes leaked like sieves. The sewer system was so cracked that groundwater entering the pipes overwhelmed the capacity of the treatment plant. Power lines deteriorated. The borough decided to buy electric from others and resell it to the residents rather than produce it here.
As a result, income that used to be diverted every year to the general fund now is needed to pay off the loans for those decades-behind repairs and replacements. There is no longer the nice cushion in the borough bank accounts that allowed utility rates to be kept low. You are paying for councils' long neglect. Rate increases are now either passed along to you, or further deplete the sagging general fund. Either way, it is your money that pays the bills:
2004: Qtown's wholesale power costs increased by 20 percent. Water was increased 60 percent, and sewer rates 58 percent.
2005: Electric rates up 20 percent more. Water up another 104%. Sewer up 54%.
2006: Electric increased yet another 7.1 percent.
2007: The borough is paying five percent more for electric, but charging you seven percent.
The multiplication here is easy, except if you are a QCSD graduate and only learned Integrated Math. Your electric payments are up over 65 percent in four years! If you paid $100 a month in 2003, you will now pay $165. Water is up over 226 percent, sewer over 143 percent. Taxes, by any other name.
Council has put its own spin on the electric bills. They proudly proclaimed to be "absorbing" part of the increases. Bullcrunch! There is no separate "council money" to "absorb" anything. It is your money that you have already paid; money that could be used for other town needs. They rob Romeo to pay Juliet.
Council's new favorite saying is that the increased electric rate the borough is being charged is due to a contract "loophole". Bullcrunch! They are simply avoiding admitting that they did not properly read their contract with American Power Company. A "loophole" occurs when a key issue is left out. That is not the case here. The contract gave the supplier the right to raise the rate. Council, manager Dave Woglom, and solicitor Chuck Fonzone have never explained how they all missed it.
The good news, if there is any here, is that one member of council is finally speaking out against his colleagues mindlessly dipping into the electric-rate well - again. Dave Zaiser said what thousands of electric users in the borough have been thinking: "Why do you keep picking on us? Every year you balance your budget by raising our electric rates, while the people who use gas or oil get off easy. They should be sharing in the burden here".
The answer, of course, is pure politics. The nastiest no-no to any elected official is "tax increase". It sounds bad when it is announced, and it sounds worse when repeated at election time. "My opponent voted to raise your taxes sixty-five percent in four years!" A one-way ticket into retirement. So politicians are always searching for ways to increase revenue without the "T" word.
In Quakertown, that search always ends at the electric, water, and sewer funds. Zaiser pointed out that it is just not fair to hit up the same group year after year. The rest of the Juliets were horrified when he publicly stated the truth - that a small property tax increase is necessary so that all homeowners share the burden more equitably. They sanctimoniously offered that an electric increase is "better" than a tax increase because the electric rate could someday be lowered.
Bullcrunch! "The essence of lying is in deception, not in words". Taxes can be lowered just as easily, but neither will happen. The town's budget will only grow as future councils are forced to make up for those decades of neglect.
Councilmen Dave Wilsey and Special Favors Williams inadvertently summed up the absurdity of the latest increase by claiming that residents can control the amount they pay by conserving energy. Knock knock boys - anyone home? What if people actually listen to you? The borough won't get its anticipated revenue, and some other measure will then be necessary.
Like a tax increase - even by any other name.