The Economy: Squeeze on a Small Town

BELFORD, N.J., a seacoast town 50 miles south of Manhattan, is little different from countless small communities across the U.S. It has quiet, tree-lined streets decked with frame houses. It also has crowded schools, potholed streets, erratic snow removal—and taxes that are climbing much faster than paychecks. Most of Belford's 8,500 residents are members of blue-collar families. The breadwinners tend to be electricians, welders and assembly-line workers. Because the town has practically no industry that can be taxed, Belford residents have to carry almost the entire load.

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Taxes are the second-hottest topic of conversation, after professional football and basketball. The most controversial levy is the property tax. Lillian Belicose, a widow with three out of eight children still living on the family budget, recalls that when she bought her house 20 years ago, her monthly payment for mortgage and taxes combined was $52.79. She has paid off her mortgage, but her property taxes now average $79 a month. "You struggle for years to pay off your mortgage," she says. "Then, when you think you finally own something, you get your property tax bill."

John Delia Zanna, an electrician, complains that taxes on his $21,000 house have more than doubled in the past six years, to $1,186.50 annually. Delia Zanna, who repairs Volkswagens on weekends to earn extra money, says: "I read in the newspaper that taxes in South Carolina are low. Maybe I'll move down there. I have to do something—I can't afford these taxes. Last year I was finally going to start a savings account so that I could have some money to help send my three kids to college. Taxes took care of that plan."

Property taxes are not the only burden. New Jersey has a 5% sales tax on most goods except food, clothes and medicine. Now state authorities are studying a personal income tax plan that might take another $5 to $10 a month from already tight family budgets in Belford. Besides taxes, residents were recently hit with special expenses when the town finally joined an areawide sewer authority. Every homeowner was obliged to pay $500 to hook into the sewer system, and is now charged a quarterly fee of $36.25.

Belford residents are rebelling against tax increases. Last year they surprisingly voted for a Democratic township administration in what has always been a Republican bastion. They also voted down a school bond issue. Last year 200 first, second-and third-grade students were crowded into a 65-year-old red brick elementary school. Then fire authorities threatened to condemn the building's second floor, which has only one wooden staircase and an inadequate fire exit. More than half the pupils were transferred to nearby schools, compounding the crowding problem.

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