Pottstown Borough Council made it official Monday night and adopted the $49 million budget for 2021 that will raise property taxes by 2.9 percent. For a residential property assessed at $85,000 the annual increase from the tax hike will add up to $32.48 more per year. The new tax rate is 13.543 mills.
Sixth Ward Councilman Michael Paules cast the only votes against the budget and against the tax levy that will fund it.
Although he offered no comment at the meeting, Paules subsequently emailed this reporter Monday night and wrote "it seems to me that this isn't a council for the people of the town but it is a council for a few blocks on high street and more for the trees than the people."
Paules also voted against a move by council to try to assist the downtown restaurants by allowing tents to be erected on two borough properties.
The tents, which would be heated and allow outdoor dining, will be located at Smith Family Plaza in front of borough hall and at the parking lot at East High and South Charlotte streets.
Other tents will be set up at The Alley and the Iron Gate Biergarten on High Street, but because both of those will be on private property, no council action was required.
The council effort was undertaken with coordination with the Pottstown Area Industrial Development agency, which oversees Pottstown's economic development efforts and has found that many restaurants are suffering from the restrictions being placed on them due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Peggy Lee-Clark, executive director of PAID, said the ban on indoor dining during the surge in COVID-19 cases "caught restaurant owners by surprise and at a time that the hospitality are really dependent on."
Lee-Clark said restaurant owners are also worried about their employees who, because they are paid partially through tips, will only get a small amount from unemployment, a benefit they likely will be able to access much before January.
More galling for them, she said, was watching "big box stores" stay open with "huge crowds" inside while their smaller establishments are forced to close by the new state regulations.
Council President Dan Weand said council is "willing to be flexible" to try to help those businesses stay open under difficult circumstances.
After the meeting, Paules wrote that he voted against the tenting measure because "I guess they think that businesses are more important than the constituents of the town. The reason I voted nay on those 3 ideas is because they don't help the people at all." |
Goodwill Fire Chief Kevin Yerger, left, and Pottstown Fire Chief Frank Hand, right, deliver food donations to Council President Dan Weand Saturday. |
I do want to make it clear that I am not saying these people don't deserve any raises at all. I feel that as humans these people who are working and get a paycheck could have delayed acceptance until things get better for everyone from this pandemic. There are alot of people in this town who are struggling to pay bills, put food on the table, pay their mortgage or rent etc...and we raise taxes because of raises in the budget which puts these people into more trouble or puts them over the edge. I'm not sorry for my comments, which they are the people's of Pottstown as well and not just in my ward I heard it from all over including people who don't even live in town butvread the Mercury.
ReplyDeleteThe above comment was from me Michael Paules council person for ward 6 and I stand by my comments and I stand by the people of Pottstown
ReplyDeleteMr. Paules - I commend you for standing up for the residents of Pottstown.Besides the previous council member, Dennis Arms, the council members just sign off on whatever Mr. Weand wants them to approve. Please represent the residents in the future and not your other council members. Although High Street is important, the residential blocks need to take precedent over High Street. Council believes a revitalization is based on High Street. Wrong. Revitalization is based with the residents and trust in leadership.The Borough leaders are friends with the business owners on High Street not the single mother with 2 children on Chestnut Street. They don't care about her. Your comments give us hope for a better 2021 when it comes to council decisions. It would be great if you could take the lead and question the department heads on the outrageous amounts on the 2021 budget and how we can reduce these amounts. Report your findings to Evan Brandt. Great job Mr. Paules
ReplyDeleteThank you so very much, I truly appreciate your kind words. As I stated earlier I am on the side of the people and always will be. Regards, Mike Paules
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