Letter to the editor: Hempfield board's tax moves

You may not know David Iwig, Jeanne Smith and Paul Adams of the Hempfield Area School Board used their reverse appeals program as an excuse to file nine pending lawsuits against the county, arguing “there is a lack of uniformity in the assessment of real estate within Westmoreland County.” They are after a court ordered county-wide reassessment which supposedly will cost over $15 million.

When the chaos is over, Iwig, Smith and Adams hope you will not notice they did not lower the school tax rate to the previous revenue level. It is a school tax increase in disguise — devilishly genius. Perhaps the district needs more revenue, but after 40-plus consecutive years of steadily declining student enrollment, it may be time to examine that need.

We need Hempfield board members who will collect the over $3.1 million in back taxes due before they raise your taxes. And we certainly need members who have the courage to discuss tax increases in a public forum. There are plenty of good candidates on the ballot, and I would recommend you choose anybody but Iwig, Smith and Adams — or all of Westmoreland is going to pay.

Dana Smith

Hempfield