top of page
Marble Surface

Fact Checking the information presented on August 30, 2023 

Banonis threatened LST residents with outrageous tax increases.

If all 4035 households in Lower Saucon paid $3,500 more, that = $14,122,500

      The math: (4035 x $3500 = $14,122,500)

That’s almost $11.6 million more* than we got from the landfill in 2022.

                                               *Based on $2,558,245 landfill revenue Page 54, 2022 LST Audit report

 

Banonis said we need a paid fire department all of a sudden at a cost of $2,500,000 per year.  He said that would increase taxes $7,000 per year for every household!

 

That would add $28,245,000 in revenue!!!  What???

                                 This is a scare tactic using very terrible math.

               There’s no reason anyone’s tax bill would increase as Banonis stated.

FACT

CHECK

Inflated tax increases presented by Banonis were based on inflated home values. 

  1. Amounts were based on LST home sales amounts for July 2023 – this is not a true reflection of ALL homes in the township.

  2. Taxes are based on the County’s assessed value which is 50% of the value the County has determined for your property – they are not based on a sales price.

  3. So, his extra 7 mill tax bill of $3,500 is for a home that the County valued at $1,000,000 which would have an assessed value of $500,000.

 

                                          This is a scare tactic using very terrible math.

                    There’s no reason anyone’s tax bill would increase as Banonis stated.

​

What is the median assessed value of a home in LST?

                     It is NOT $500,000  –  It is $111,050

​

  1. This is based on 2022 LST property taxes collected $2,303,164*

  2. That averages out to $570.80 local tax paid for each home.
    The math:  $2,303,164 / 4035 = $570.80

  3. Using our 5.14 mill rate, the average assessed value is $111,050.
    The math:  $570.80 / .00514 = $111,050

​

                                                                                           *From 2022 LST Audit Report Page 11

FACT

CHECK

Won't the SV School District lose tax money if the landfill closes?

Bethlehem Landfill will still own the land even if they are no longer operating. Property taxes must still be paid on the property they own.

 

They own numerous properties that are not currently being used for landfill and taxes are paid on those properties.

 

There would be NO shortfall to the SV School District!

FACT

CHECK

The revenue generated by our current taxes in Lower Saucon Township (not including landfill money) show that we can pay our bills without landfill money!

FACT

CHECK

Footnotes:  A - higher expenses due to paying off all debt 

                   B - higher expenses due to unbudgeted 1 million dollar paving project, extra legal fees

LST-Revenue-2018-2022.png

FACT

CHECK

We've been repeatedly told Bethlehem Landfill funds 30% of the LST budget. 

This is misleading because it implies that we’d have a 30% shortfall and would not be able to cover our budget without landfill money.

There would NOT be a 30% shortfall.

Using financial information from the past 5 years audit reports we see:

percent-of-buget-funded-by-LST-residents.png

This averages 95.72% of LST budget funded by LST residents & non-landfill business revenue. This includes 2 years of paying off debt and last year’s excessive, unplanned spending.

bottom of page