Recently, a political battle ensued over the replacement of turf fields located at Maple Grange Park. After several contentious meetings, the council voted to bond nearly $800,000 to cover the more than $900,000 cost to replace two out of the three turf fields. The third field will be replaced within the next two years, costing the taxpayer greater than $400,000. To avoid bonding again in ten years for the fields, Council President Murphy introduced an idea - a new tax. The discussion about this additional tax revolved around funding future turf fields only, and this new additional tax would be proposed in a ballot question for Vernon voters to decide. I adamantly opposed putting this question to the voters because the language in the ballot question is different from the council discussion. The ballot question does not contain the word “turf.” The tax money can be used for anything that has to do with recreation and is not specific to turf field replacement. Though we can all agree that recreation is an important part of the fabric of our town, Vernon taxpayers already pay plenty for recreation. For example, the taxpayer pays the P.A.L. $45,000 per year to administer Vernon’s recreation programs. The town allocates another $65,000 of taxpayer money to fund our recreation department. The town has money stowed in a Recreation Trust Fund. We took $300,000 of our Open Space Fund to be used for recreation. We pay taxes to the Board of Education for recreation programs, as well as the school’s turf fields, and we are paying over $900,000 for the replacement of turf fields at Maple Grange Park with an additional $400,000 in the near future.
The last thing Vernon taxpayers need is another tax. Vote "no" on Nov. 5 to the tax ballot question.
Sandra Ooms
Vernon Township Council Member
