Redstone Township Board of Supervisors

Court Ruling Could Lead to Higher Taxes,

Unsafe Roads Here and Elsewhere

Are you already fed up with the spike in gas

prices? Well, take heed. A recent ruling by the

Pennsylvania Supreme Court has the potential to

lighten your wallet even more and may jeopardize

the safety of the roads your family travels

every day.

township must now pay contracted workers higher

wages — commonly referred to as “prevailing

wages” — for routine road maintenance projects,

a mandate that could add up to 30 percent to their

wage costs and fuel local property tax increases

statewide.

This decision is just one more blow for the

commonwealth’s municipalities, which maintain

more miles of roads than the state Department

of Transportation; however, lawmakers continue

to ignore their growing need for increased transportation

funding.

Who’s the real loser?

In early 2007, for instance, Gov. Ed Rendell

began pushing the General Assembly to scrape

together the money to improve the state’s aging

roads and bridges and prop up mass transit. As

a result, lawmakers passed Act 44 last summer,

and generate about $900 million a year in new

transportation dollars with only a small percentage

earmarked for municipalities.

Controversial from the start, Act 44 faces an

uncertain future.

Now, Rendell is touting the benefits of leasing

the Pennsylvania Turnpike, a move he claims

will raise an estimated $1 billion a year for roads,

bridges, and mass transit. At the same time, Senate

Majority Leader Joe Scarnati has introduced

legislation to repeal Act 44 and divert $510 million

a year from the state’s Motor License Fund to pay

for transportation projects.

But there’s a troubling side to these proposals

that you, as a township resident, must understand:

These transportation initiatives would funnel very

maintaining many of the roads and bridges that you

use to get to work and your children take to school.

Instead, millions of dollars of vital funding

would go to PennDOT, the Southeastern Pennsylvania

Transportation Authority in Philadelphia,

the Port Authority of Allegheny County in Pittsburgh,

and other public transportation providers.

“The state is looking out for the state and mass

transit,” says Ken Grimes, president of the Pennsylvania

State Association of Townships Supervisors,

which represents 1,465 townships of the

second class, “but what lawmakers are forgetting

is that township roads connect Pennsylvanians to

state highways and bridges.

“If those local roads deteriorate to the point where

they can’t handle the traffic or they pose safety risks

to travelers, then what have we really accomplished

— other than wasting precious tax dollars?”

And the sad truth is, this lack of support from

the state, coupled with the court’s prevailing

wage mandate and escalating gasoline, diesel,

and asphalt costs, is backing many township offi

cials into a corner.

Some, unfortunately, may be forced to raise

property taxes or cut services to cover the gaps

in their transportation budgets. Others may

simply have to put much-needed road repairs on

the back burner, a situation that could turn good

roads to bad very quickly.

Either way, there’s one real loser in this equation:

you.

The voice of voters is critical

That’s why it’s imperative that you get involved

in the grassroots fight to change Pennsylvania’s

Prevailing Wage Act and secure new state funding

to improve your township’s roads and bridges.

The voice of voters is critical, especially on

the prevailing wage front, says Rep. Ronald

to amend the law for 20 years, with little luck.

In fact, in recent months, he and other lawmakers

have proposed numerous amendments that

would bring financial relief to townships, but all

have remained buried in committee.

Marsico isn’t surprised. “We have a labor

union-dominated legislature,” he says. “Many of

us have been fighting for a repeal or a local option,

and we just don’t have enough votes.”

That would change, Marsico believes, if

Pennsylvanians, like you, knew the price they

are paying to support prevailing wages.

“This is costing the commonwealth hundreds

of millions of tax dollars a year that could be saved

by repealing the prevailing wage and making it

the market wage,” he says. “I think it’s about time

the taxpayers realize the prevailing wage rates are

costing them higher taxes across the board.

“You have to change the legislators’ minds,”

Marsico adds, “and what it takes to do that is the

citizens getting more vocal and getting active.”

Support your township

So what can you do?

First, call the township office or attend one

of the supervisors’ monthly meetings. Ask them

and its impact on your community. Very likely,

you will hear that local officials have had to

make some tough choices.

Document their stories, tell your neighbors,

and encourage them to become advocates for

your township. This includes calling the state

senators and representatives who serve your

district and demanding they first address the

prevailing wage mandate and then provide additional

The bottom line is that townships statewide

are facing a lot of rising costs, from fuel to steel

and concrete, PSATS President Ken Grimes

says. “There’s nothing the state can do about

those,” he says, “but it can do something about

the prevailing wage law.”

That won’t happen, he adds, unless municipalities,

residents, and other groups form a united

front. “If we do nothing, we’ll get nothing,”

Grimes says. “We all have to heed a call to action.”