Leave it to The Morning Call and the local liberal establishment to denigrate a good program and promote a bad one. Recent articles, especially a pictorial essay, gave the impression that Clean and Green provides tax relief to mansion dwellers at the expense of the working homeowner. The legislation actually doesn't pertain to the dwellings, but rather the surrounding land that is actively farmed. Without such a tax break, farming would be economically unfeasible. Ironically, the same factions opposed to this practical act endorse Farmland Preservation, which really does reward the landed gentry to keep land that they never intended to sell in the first place.
Our county governments have been falling over themselves to provide more and more of our tax dollars to the politically correct and popular Farmland Preservation, while ignoring such realities as a surplus of farmland and a shortage of farmers. But since when does reality factor into government?
While the Morning Call examination of Clean and Green was extensive, involving numerous right to know requests and analysis, they have turned a blind eye to the NIZ in their own backyard. The Clean and Green tax benefit derived by all the participants in Lehigh and Northampton Counties combined, does not equal the amount of state tax siphoned off and given to J.B. Reilly, the main NIZ beneficiary.
photo by The Morning Call
My major problem is Lower Macungie Township [LMT] has given rise to farmland preservation while I pay for their policing. We pay for local police services and Pennsylvania taxes for this program to survive in LMT. This why the PA budget is expense loaded while revenues fall. This can't last forever and LMT is going to pay the price that every citizen pays for in this program.
ReplyDeleteThe NIZ is another story in itself and will be challenged in the future.
This campaign to raise property taxes on now clean and green land owners is an organized effort to raise more revenue from real estate taxes. They are espousing the idea that homeowners are subsidizing farmers in an attempt to divide and conquer. There are many inequalities in real estate taxes, over appraisals, under appraisals for special friends etc.. This especially effects older residents who don't have the knowledge or wherewithal to challenge over appraisals. This is an antiquated system that needs to be scraped in favor of a more equatable method that does not discriminate against property owners. The taxes should be spread out across the whole population. Property taxes also have destroyed the idea of private property. In effect we are all renting from the government. I believe this is an organized effort pushed by the teachers unions across the country. In some states they are even demanding which taxes they would like to be raised to increase their salaries and pensions. It seems like they may fear that taxpayers may have recently been allowed to keep more of their money, and they covet their new windfall.
ReplyDeletefire@8:00. the purchase of the weiner tract for $5million is an outrage, and i suppose a ron beitler initiative.
ReplyDeleteclean and green actually preserves real land being farmed, while Farmland Preservation is yuppie ignorance.. Land must be actively farmed or it soon becomes overgrown with saplings and unfarmable.
The Clean and Green story was about class envy .If the government taxes the landowners more My taxes will go down.
ReplyDeleteSherman, no , the districts will just spend more money, your taxes will not go down.
ReplyDeleteMy thoughts exactly "to keep land that they never intended to sell". The land preservationists ignore the real and inevitably increasing difficulty young adults will have buying reasonably priced homes. I too do not want to see the entire region covered in asphalt and we should be looking for ways to incentivize large corporations moving into our area to build in the urban areas (Allentown, Slatington, Palmerton) but a growing population needs new housing. It's my belief land preservation is not the goal, denying choice and forcing young adults to move back into urban areas is.
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