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I've received several certificates over the years, both professionally and personally. But my election certification is easily the one I was most honored to have been granted in 2021. I'm looking forward to earning your trust again in 2023 to continue serving as your representative in York County.
Second, I've spoken with several people who had been under the false impression that I was attempting to raise the local sales tax. I am happy to report that is simply not the case. I have no interest in pursuing a sales tax increase nor an increase in the county's tax rates.
In fact, over the past two years I’ve voted to decrease both the real estate tax and personal property tax rates. When we received an unexpected surplus from personal property taxes due to inflated car values, I led the charge to return that surplus back to county residents. Within weeks of first joining the board I was presented with a proposal to raise the tax rate and I immediately pushed back on it.
Going forward, I will continue to look for options on how we can fund county services and obligations while keeping our tax burden low. It is important to make sure our Sheriff's department, our Fire and Life Safety department, schools, teachers and public services receive sufficient funding to maintain the high quality we've come to expect in York County. But I will work to seek those funds via low tax rates and fees, through grant opportunities, profit sharing programs and establishing new revenue streams to help shift the tax load off of the residents.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Best regards,
Stephen
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