With a tough budget deficit
and the battle over gas drilling in Nockamixon, supervisor
candidates had their chance to weigh in.
Candidates running for
Nockamixon supervisor are worried about a crushing budget
deficit facing the township.
With a projected end-of-year
shortage of at least $150,000 in this year's $2.1 million
budget, the four candidates running for two seats up for grabs
in November's election are concerned about where the township
is headed financially.
They also weighed in on the
battle for natural gas drilling in the township.
Two Democratic and two
Republican candidates are vying for positions left vacant by
Supervisors Henry Gawronski and James Litzenberger on the
five-member board when their terms expire at the end of this
year.
"At this particular point, the
township is really having a budgeting deficit crisis. That's
really a fundamental issue for the board. It's not a
long-standing issue, but it's one that needs to be addressed
immediately," said Democratic candidate Nancy Alessi, 62.
The township resident of eight
years wants to tighten up the budget by looking into
"inefficiencies" such as high legal costs and if the board is
paying more to outsource its zoning officer contractor than
having one on staff.
Republican candidate Carl
Bahnck, 62, wants to see the township make a bigger effort
toward cost savings, including working with neighboring
municipalities on a consortium for joint purchasing.
Bahnck, a lifetime resident of
Nockamixon, supports cuts in nonessential services before a
tax increase would be considered.
"I would like to hold the line
on taxes as best I can, but when you have a deficit you've got
to make up the difference whether through cuts or taxes," he
said.
Republican candidate William
Sadow, 47, also prefers cuts to nonessential services in a
budget crisis.
He wants to see a greater
effort to obtain grant money, which might be able to fill the
gaps and provide for some of these services.
"The last thing on my list
would be raising taxes, and if we don't have to take it out of
reserves, we don't want to," said Sadow, a resident of 25
years. "You don't like to cut services, but if it's a
nonessential it may have to go or be suspended for a year so
we can get back on track."
Democratic candidate Terry
Fritz, 64, says the whole budgeting process should be more
transparent.
Without going line by line
through the budget, he was hesitant to choose between budget
cuts or a tax increase.
"Nobody wants to cut services
and most of the ones we're doing are necessary. If it's a
choice to cut services and raise taxes, I wouldn't want to do
either," said Fritz, a resident of 15 years. "I don't have the
details, and I don't know what my decision would be. Either
cutting services or raising taxes would be a last resort."
The current tax rate in
Nockamixon is 1 mill. One mill is equal to $1 of tax for every
$1,000 of assessed property value.
Supervisors withdrew $500,000
from reserves to make ends meet and avoid a tax hike when they
passed their budget at the beginning of 2009.
The average Nockamixon
resident pays $30 per year in municipal taxes.
The fight to open up natural
gas wells has divided township residents and candidates alike.
"I think it's really been a
sad situation for Nockamixon. It's something that's pitted
neighbor against neighbor and that's really unfortunate. For
the township, it's the divisive issue," said Alessi, who is
co-chairwoman of the open space committee, and served two
terms on the municipal board in Glencoe, Ill.
Although gas drilling is
allowed under state and federal law, township supervisors have
an obligation to protect Nockamixon's water resources, she
said.
"As we've seen in other places
in Pennsylvania and other parts of the country, this is really
a danger," said Alessi, of potential chemical contamination of
water wells during the drilling process.
Bahnck pointed out that
drilling is regulated and monitored by environmental agencies,
and he's worried about how much money supervisors are spending
on legal fees fighting the gas company.
"A lot of people are
unemployed and they're worried about their finances. Why would
you have to increase taxes to pay for more litigation?
Something's gotta end here," said Bahnck, a former planning
commission member who now serves as president of the Ottsville
Fire Co. He has been a volunteer firefighter for 45 years.
Sadow has also heard from
residents worried about the legal tab for gas drilling.
"I think the biggest concern
that I've heard from people is the money we've spent on
fighting this," said Sadow, who serves on Nockamixon's
planning commission.
Although his priority lies
with protecting the township's groundwater, he said, gas
drilling is allowed.
"Gas drilling in Nockamixon is
a permitted use. It's permitted by the state and it's
permitted by the federal government. I just want them
(drilling companies) to be as safe as they can and follow the
rules."
Fritz says he's opposed to gas
drilling within the township, because of the potential harm to
private water wells.
Nockamixon does not have
public water, and therefore any damage to the groundwater
would be too high a risk, he said.
"We have so little water
availability in the township, and it takes so long to recharge
it's not worth the risk in having this done by the driller,"
said Fritz, a member of the environmental advisory committee.
Amanda Cregan can be reached
at 215-538-6371 or acregan@phillyBurbs.com.