To the editor:
In a recent newspaper article directed to the residents of Medford, Mayor Randy Pace tells us that Medford must be fiscally responsible.
Yes, Mayor Pace, Medford does have to live within its means. But living with its means does not require prepaying town debt that is not yet due, at a time when the town has not yet emerged from the fiscal crisis left by previous administrations. The surplus that has accrued to the town from the large increase in water and sewer charges should not be used for a precipitous and unnecessary prepayment of town debt.
What the town desperately needs now, is to establish a rainy day fund to provide for unexpected emergencies and to meet pressing needs to maintain our town as the first rate community that we expect it to be; and that it was judged to be when it won the title of top town in South Jersey this year.
Ignoring the availability of the newly available funds to meet pressing needs and killing our community by a thousand tiny cuts is irresponsible. And using the town council members and town officials’ scarce time in a search for inconsequential savings while bouncing from crisis to crisis is a sure way to undermine our quality of life and to destroy property values.
Our status as the number one town in South Jersey will not last one year if you pursue pitifully small, but painful, savings and neglect the larger picture.
Medford has, until now, offered beautiful parks, pleasant landscapes and activities that benefit a wide range of residents ranging from youngsters to seniors. Neglect of these many amenities is already apparent.
Now, the parks look shabby. No official seems to have seen or cared about a newly downed tree blocking the footpath in the park. No one seems to care about the grass starting to obliterate the path. One of the amenities cited in the choice of Medford as number one town, the canoe trail created through the efforts by the town and volunteers, is no longer usable throughout the park area. No town official seems to have noticed the vandalism at the Coates Street Landing of the trail. The picnic table has been demolished and dangerous nail riddled debris left on the ground. The information kiosk’s thick Plexiglas cover is smashed, information and exhibits are torn and scattered.
Volunteers continue to keep lower stretches of the trail passable and clean, but the large obstructions in the park area that can only be removed with heavy equipment still prevent use of the canoe trail and landings in the park.
Turning over community activities, previously supported by the town, to private groups to save money, may work in some cases but create hardship in others. The transfer of financial and organizational responsibility may work for activities that have a vigorous membership and a strong revenue stream, as for instance in the case of the Medford Youth Athletic Association and even save the town some money, but cannot be universally applied.
The proposal by the town to eliminate its financial and organizational support of the senior center is an entirely different matter.
Previous administrations recognized that a center supporting senior activities in this building was necessary to provide a support network that would enable older residents to continue to live in Medford. Enabling seniors to continue to live in Medford recognizes not only the historic tradition of honoring and supporting elders but also recognizes the tax advantages to the town of residents who pay their full share of taxes, but do not burden the town with the cost of educating children.
Residential households, on average, pay about $4,000 in annual taxes. Two thirds of these taxes are spent on education. This means that two thirds of senior household property taxes, averaging $2,700, subsidize those town residents with children in the education system.
This explains why the town is always anxious to add housing that does not bring more children to town. Conversely, it should motivate the town’s officials to do all that they can to retain the town’s older residents. Eleven percent, roughly 900, of Medford’s households are senior households. That means that seniors subsidize education costs of other residents by approximately $2,400,000 per year.
The town developed the senior center over the past few years, largely with public grants at virtually no cost to the town. Until now, the town has paid the annual out-of-pocket costs of the center of approximately $ 8,000 per year.
Now the town proposes that these costs be paid directly by the seniors. Even more significant is the administrative burden that would be placed on the Seniors’ shoulders of developing and assuming legal, accounting, and auditing functions, in addition to new financial obligations, at a time when increasing age makes it difficult for them to handle such burdens.
Our Mayor complains in a recent statement in the Central Record that the town pays a million dollars a year to the county for library services but receives only $10,000 in return. If, in Mayor Pace’s eyes, a fair return on taxes is a true measure of the equity of an arrangement, then the advantage to the town of the senior’s tax subsidy to education of $2.4 million per year in exchange for continued payment by the Town of the $8,000 annual cost of operating the senior center would seem to be least the town could do for seniors.
Much more could be expected by the seniors in exchange for their huge contribution to the cost of educating the children of their neighbors.
In closing, I would like to ask Mr. Pace and his town council members: what do you want your legacy to the town to be? Do you want to be remembered as the town leaders who saved $8,000 in taxes by squeezing it out of seniors, for saving other minor sums by stopping park cleanups, and for failing to provide an adequate fund for unexpected emergencies; or do you want to be remembered for enhancing community spirit, maintaining Medford’s amenities, property values, and beauty and providing efficient services appropriate for a town designated number one in South Jersey.
Bernard C. Mayer
Former Medford Canoe Trail Chairman and Developer of Medford Canoe Trail
Former Member, Recreation Department Advisory Board
Member, Medford Senior Center
Concerned Citizen
