VOICE OF THE TOWNSHIP

Tax Day is behind us, and I hope all of you got your income tax returns filed on time. Property tax bills also have been sent out on time for the first time since 2005.

None of us like to pay taxes. But, I understand that taxes are necessary if we want government services. The best example of the need for taxes is what has been happening with our schools.

I realized shortly after being elected Trustee that the finances of Wayne Township were in trouble. We simply did not have enough tax money coming in to provide the services we were committed to provide.

You probably remember all of the publicity we got for having to take out a loan when I first took over as Trustee. Since that time, my staff and I have worked very hard to reduce our budget and still maintain a high level of service for our clients and our community.

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Our hard work toward reducing our budget is reflected in the property tax bill you just received. Mailed with your property tax bill is a very helpful breakdown of tax information for your home. At the bottom of the breakdown is information about tax rates and how much you pay to each taxing district.

The township information is the last column on the breakdown. If you live in Wayne Township, you can easily see that we have reduced our tax rate from .1344 in 2009 to .1175 in 2010. You also can see from your bill that Wayne Township reduced its rate more than any other unit of government and was one of only a few units for which the tax rate went down.

Your breakdown shows too exactly how much of your tax dollars are going to each taxing district. You will notice that the amount of money going to Wayne Township is very small in comparison to the tax money going for schools and the City and County. Secondly, you should see a decrease from 2009 in the tax dollars going to Wayne Township.

While making cuts is never easy, I focused on making cuts that would be fair to all our clients and have the least impact on the services we provide. At the same time, I worked on establishing partnerships with other agencies which could help us provide quality services to our clients.

When I started this budget reduction process just after I took office, I first looked at the programs we were offering to our clients. I had to decide where we were getting the most “bang for our buck.” Unfortunately, I had to cut programs that, while they were worthwhile, were serving only a limited number of clients.

I looked at our Eligibility Standards and made changes to limit the amount we were paying in Township Assistance. My goal was to continue to help as many clients as we can, but each client might receive a little less in assistance than he or she did in the past.

I thought it was important to do everything I could to reduce our personnel budget without laying off any staff. I was able to accomplish that by changing our personnel policies to limit payouts that had been made in the past to resigning staff members. I also have not filled positions as they became vacant.

As Trustee, I understand the dual goals of my office—helping those in need and being a guardian of your tax dollars. My staff and I keep these two goals in mind as we continue to serve you.

Richard A. Stevenson, Sr.

Wayne Township Trustee