Analyst’s statements are a bit misleading

In a recent article on the hearing for the Hovbilt Jackson Valley project (“Analyst: Project Revenues Will Outweigh Cost to Town,” Tri-Town News, Dec. 7), Richard Reading of Richard B. Reading Associates made statements that are simply not accurate.

He stated that some of the benefits are “permits, fees and other revenues.” As Mr. Reading should know, revenues from the building department are not general revenues, they are targeted revenues. These fees are calculated to offset the cost of the expenses of the building department. The building department is not a “profit center” for the township.

State law does not allow the township to set fees higher than the actual costs for running the building department. So, his statement is completely inaccurate. As building slows in Jackson, the building department will get smaller or generate revenue by subcontracting to other smaller towns, but any fees realized by the Jackson Valley project will never reduce the tax burden by a single penny in Jackson.

Mr. Reading also stated that “development would not alter school funding.” As a former member of the Jackson Board of Education, I know this to be a very misleading statement on his part. I served as the head of the finance committee for six years working with the board professionals developing school budgets.

School aid computations from the state are very complex and vary year by year. These formulas bend to the will of the political winds in this state and could change from year to year.

Mr. Reading failed to note that one of the components of the school aid formula is what is known as the “wealth factor.” Basically, the state computes school aid based on many inputs and what they compute is the average incomes of Jackson citizens. These factors are based on the values of the homes we own and census information. So, as more and more expensive homes are built in Jackson, the median value of a home rises along with these increasing values. This translates into Jackson being considered a more “wealthy” community.

What’s the bottom line? If the state computes we have higher incomes, this means we can bear the cost of school taxes more easily and will not increase our state aid. If you look at our state school aid over the past few years, our aid has been nearly flat or with very little increase. So, we may not lose any money, but then again, we won’t gain any additional school aid.

Mr. Reading’s matter-of-fact statement that school aid is unaffected can’t be proven and therefore is highly suspect. If Mr. Reading can guarantee his statements with a performance bond from Hovbilt to provide for any loss in state school aid, I would then agree with him. However, I doubt that any company would want to take such a risk.

I think the Planning Board should ask for additional information regarding Mr. Reading’s statement on his school aid “guarantee.” I would also ask the Planning Board to note to Mr. Reading that permit fees are not general township revenues and are not a long-term financial benefit to the taxpayers of Jackson.

Ted Koch

Jackson