A letter from Giancarlo D’Orazio
Washington Township is becoming overladen with a large population, a chockablock community of South Jersey.
There are a number of residential projects-in-progress adding hundreds of units in a community that has an unacceptable number of abandoned homes. One of these projects includes a cluster of 330 apartments that do not pay property tax at value for 25 consecutive years.
This may be a good time to hit the pause button. Before other residential projects are approved, let’s stabilize the impact these projects, once completed, will have on our schools, roads, water supply and municipal resources. Most of all, the impact these projects will have on our property taxes.
A solution to reduce the number of abandoned homes in our community should take priority over building new ones.
A study should be done on what we want our community to become in the near future. Giving carte blanche to the developers and allow them to continue to use our community as their playground is not a responsible move for our elected officials to take. It is time to revisit the outdated master plan, and in order to restore the label “Premier” to our community; a multi-year plan is a must!
When the mayor and council members tell you that they do not control school taxes, remind them that based on these types of projects they approve, they are the principal cause of the out-of-control school taxes; especially that residents of the 330 apartments do not pay school taxes for 25 years, the rest of us must pay for them!
Giancarlo D’Orazio
