Ridley Park considers an earned-income tax

RIDLEY PARK >> An earned-income tax may be on the horizon for residents of the borough after council voted at its October meeting to have Solicitor Ernie Angelos prepare a draft ordinance for the establishment of an EIT for presentation at council’s Nov. 7 workshop meeting.

The solicitor said the ordinance would have to be advertised once a week for three weeks after the draft is accepted by council, leading Councilman Mike Gale to make a motion to have a public meeting within 14 days of the initial publication of the EIT ordinance. Council agreed to the motion. No date has been set for the public meeting.

“I strongly recommend you make this a very well publicized public discussion(meeting),” resident Mary Pat King told council.

A Burke Avenue resident said he does not agree with an EIT, telling council such a tax would hurt a lot of people. An EIT would apply to those who are residents of the community and to none-residents who work in the borough. An EIT applies only to earned income.

“After five years of no tax increase, it’s going to be either a property tax increase or an EIT,” council President Jim Glenn said.

Commenting after the meeting, Glenn estimated that an EIT could bring in between $800,000 and $1 million in revenue. He said 18 municipalities in Delaware County have EITs. And he noted that borough residents who work in a municipality that has an EIT, would not pay the tax twice. Where a person lives takes precedence over where they work in paying an EIT.

Borough Manager Richard Tutak said after the meeting that the 2019 preliminary budget will be presented at the workshop without an EIT in it.

In other community news, Councilman Jared Brennan reported that the library will be collecting food items for its annual Thanksgiving food drive and Police Chief Robert Fraizer reported that there will be a large contingent of police officers on the streets on Halloween during trick or treat activities, interacting with the young children.

In another matter, council approved the appointment of Bob Berger to the planning commission. Berger served several terms on borough council.