Meet the Candidates for the 2017 Voorhees Township Committee Election: Week 2
In the second week, the committee candidates explain their stances on recent budgets, municipal tax rates and new commercial and residential development.
The Voorhees Sun is running a four-week Meet the Candidates series ahead of this November’s Voorhees Township Committee election.
Below are profiles of the candidates running in the election. In the coming weeks, the candidates will answer questions regarding issues pertaining to the town.
Republicans
Name: Carmine Valentino and Lisa DeAugustine
- How do you feel about the township’s recent budgets and municipal tax rates?
The 2017 municipal tax rate is over 27% more than the previous year. In fact, within the last eight years, the municipal tax rate has increased six times, while the other two years saw no change at all. Voorhees residents are paying some of the highest property taxes in the country. We, as local government officials, should be establishing a precedent for reform.
A majority of the large 2017 municipal tax rate hike can be attributed to the resolution of the fire company. Residents saw over $4M added to their budget this year alone. Voorhees residents believe, as do we, that the safety of our families and community is of critical importance. However, we stand with our neighbors who believe that our opponents should have sought referendum, allowing them to vote on the issue.
The reorganization meeting, which is the first meeting of the year in January, saw appointments of professionals hired within the town. This year alone seven or more of the professionals that were (re)appointed had submitted bids that were significantly more expensive than most, if not all other bids. Our opponents voted in favor of appointing each of these professionals, showing complete disregard for the hard-working taxpayer. It is important to note that the professionals appointed to these positions in almost all identifiable cases, have contributed monetarily to our opponents campaign.
We, as taxpaying residents, must ask ourselves; Is this the best we can do? One thing is for certain; If we continue to elect Platt and Mignogna the answer is inevitably, and unfortunately, yes.
A vote for Carmine Valentino and Lisa DeAugustine is a vote for progress, not political patronage.
2. How would you grade the township’s efforts when it comes to new commercial and residential development?
Voorhees is one of the most beautiful towns in New Jersey spanning over 11.5 sq miles and offering a full array of residential and commercial real estate opportunities. It’s one of the most culturally diverse towns and communities in South Jersey, and we should work hard to protect this community for future generations. It doesn’t take a trained eye to spot the vast landscape of vacant commercial real estate throughout our town. This neglect is most evident for those that regularly drive down Haddonfield-Berlin Rd (561).
About ten years ago, the decision was made to vacate the old Voorhees Township Municipal Building, and move into the brand new $6M Municipal Building in the newly developed Voorhees Town Center. The additional $6M billed to the taxpayers for the new Municipal Building were promised to be offset greatly by the expedient sale of the old Municipal Building, and the success of the Voorhees Town Center (At the time owned by PREIT).
In 2011, Voorhees Township officials moved into the new Municipal Building, making the old Municipal Building available for sale. In 2015, PREIT sold the Voorhees Town Center without warning, citing they learned that Macy’s planned to close its anchor store in Voorhees, and that their earnings per square foot were the lowest of all properties held by PREIT (This includes both the Cherry Hill, and Moorestown Malls). By 2016, a buyer placed the lowest possible bid for the old Municipal Building, and the offer was accepted, despite officials claiming three years earlier that they had more than 20 potential buyers. We have calculated that six years of missed tax revenues have cost Voorhees taxpayers over $340,000, while the old Municipal Building remains vacant.
Our opponents have promised to expeditiously offset the tremendous costs of the new Municipal Building. These promises have been broken, and our opponents should be held accountable on November 7th.
Democrats
Name: Michael Mignogna and Harry A. Platt
- How do you feel about the Township’s most recent budgets and municipal tax rates?
We have worked hard over the years to control spending and stabilize taxes while continuing to provide the high level of municipal services our residents have come to expect and deserve.
This year, based on numerous requests from residents and our full time firefighters, including their union, the Township Committee unanimously voted to consolidate the Fire Department into the Township. Previously, the Fire Department had been under the control of a Board of Fire Commissioners. The Township Committee inherited the Fire Department’s budget of $7,920,000. This was a 5% increase over the 2016 fire budget established by the Fire Commissioners.
The Township Municipal Budget controlled by the Township Committee represents only 20.56% of your total tax bill. In spite of the merger of the Fire Department, the local budget had only a 1.26% increase in the amount to be raised by taxes for an increase of $3.33 per month for the average assessed Voorhees home. The 2017 Voorhees Township Budget is $1,857,000 below the 2% state levy cap.
There are 23 less full time employees in Town Hall than in 2009. We have engaged in sensible shared services programs with Eastern Regional High School, the Voorhees Township Schools, Gibbsboro, Laurel Springs, Brooklawn, Stratford and Camden County to save tax dollars. We initiated side-arm trash collection and single stream recycling collection which allows our manpower to be used more efficiently. Our use of Compressed Natural Gas trucks saves the Township approximately $35,000 a year in fuel costs.
Over the last two years, Voorhees Township has received $3.1 million in federal, state and county grants which we used to control our local taxes.
The 2017 budget included the hiring of five new police officers, the purchase of six new police vehicles and the installation of turf at the Maiaroto Soccer Complex. We also continued to partner with the schools in placing a full time police officer in every school every day to protect our most valuable asset — our children.
2. How would you grade the Township’s efforts when it comes to new commercial and residential development?
In regard to commercial development, we are proud of our efforts in bringing the Virtua Medical Campus to Route 73 and it has become the hub of our “Medical Mile.” The hospital has become an economic magnet for Voorhees by creating thousands of new jobs and generating millions of dollars in tax revenue. The Virtua Campus brought several new businesses to Voorhees including the Brandywine Senior Facility, Powerback Rehabilitation Center, Samaritan Health Care & Hospice, the Hampton Inn and the Voorhees Diner.
In order to attract new business and help existing businesses thrive, we started the “Shop Voorhees” tax credit program. Voorhees was the first South Jersey town to initiate this program which encourages our community to shop locally.
In 2016, 47 new businesses opened in Voorhees, generating tax revenue and jobs. So far in 2017, Voorhees has seen the emergence of 38 new businesses, including U.S. Renal Care, Oink and Moo BBQ, Kennedy Health Medical and Administrative Offices and Cooper University Health System Surgical Offices. A new Aldi Supermarket was recently approved and will be built on Route 73.
During our years on Township Committee, we have been very careful in limiting residential development. Since 2003, Voorhees Township has preserved 203 acres of land as open space. Recent residential development has been mostly limited to “over 55” developments which generate tax revenue yet have no impact on our school population. A perfect example is Centennial Mill, whose residents have become an important part of our community.
