DID YOU KNOW...
- That Downingtown's tax rate of 6.7 mils has increased 50% over the past four year? The Borough held the line on taxes in 2011 but only by laying off employees. This is an unsustainable model going forward.
- Downingtown needs new revenues, otherwise it will be forced to continuously borrow more money to cover operations. Most debt means increased debt service expense which puts pressure on taxes.
- New developments and new investments in the Borough bring in more revenues while new residents help should the tax burden. The Kardon Park project alone will generate over $1 million annually in net revenues - to the Borough, the School District, the County and East Whiteland Township.
- Most of the Borough's budget are fixed expenses and not discretionary. The only place to really cut expenditures and lower Borough costs is by reducing the debt and there the debt service. Debt service is currently about $860,000 per year or 35% of annual tax collections.
- The Kardon Ponds project will generate net cash to the Borough of more than $9 million. The entire debt of the Borough is about $8.6 million.
- The cost of cleaning up the Kardon Park site is about $1.5 million. If Borough taxpayers had to clean up the site without a private developer, that amount would represent 25% of the total current $6 million budget. State grants that do not demonstrate an economic development benefit are almost impossible to obtain.
- The opposition to the Kardon Ponds development have already cost Downingtown taxpayers $1,600 per taxpayer.
