November 10, 2005 Letter to the Philadelphia Inquirer BANCROFT SITE: DO THE MATH Is there any way, short of finding an authentic crystal ball in a Haddonfield antiques shop, to show the future of the Bancroft site? Actually, there is, and you don't need an obliging fortune-teller, just a calculator and a few Cost of Community Services work sheets. Since the late 1980s, more than 100 communities nationwide at crossroads similar to Haddonfield's have used a financial-analysis tool called a Cost of Community Services study to put a dollar figure on how much each type of land "costs" the municipality. This simple, inexpensive study takes municipal revenues and expenses in a given year, allocates each proportionally to the three general categories of land (residential, open space, commercial), and calculates a revenue-to-expenditures ratio. A study can help answer the important question: "Will new housing bring increased revenue or increased taxes?" These studies have arrived at the same result: Using land for residential purposes doesn't make money; it costs money. Analysis shows that among communities of different types, sizes and locations, the median ratio for residential land is $1 to $1.15; i.e., for every $1 of taxes generated, $1.15 in municipal services was required. (Of the five studies in New Jersey, the range was from $1.51 to $1.14.) Armed with such figures, we can throw away that crystal ball and look at the cold, hard facts. Developing the Bancroft site might cost us all much more than we ever imagined, both in taxes and lost opportunities. Wouldn't it be ironic if, by chasing ratables, we only guaranteed a higher tax burden for everyone? Lee Albright Haddonfield