Haddon Heights is the kind of town where residents remember their neighbors' roof repairs and give visitors directions like "Turn right at the big cannons - you can't miss it."
So it didn't escape Sam Spanier's attention when, for the second time in 18 months, he opened his mailbox and found a survey seeking his opinion on the borough's economic future. Specifically, what did he think of a proposal by Mayor Scott Alexander to sell borough-owned land as the site for 29 new homes?
"It's definitely getting people's attention," said Spanier, 27, a social worker who lives behind the six-acre parcel. "It's a quiet town. And now all of a sudden there's going to be a housing development going up behind us."
The possible development of what, until last year, was the town's public works site - a mostly open stretch next to a county park - has stirred heated debate among borough officials over the town's economic direction.
With Gov. Christie cutting aid to municipalities, and property values down since the start of the recession, New Jersey towns are struggling to fund basic services, such as trash pickup and police protection, while avoiding the property-tax hikes that had become routine over the last decade.
Alexander, a 48-year-old business consultant and a rising star in South Jersey Republican circles, has cut full-time staff by more than 30 percent in the borough, helping to decrease residents' tax bills for two consecutive years.
Now he's committed to increasing tax revenue through what's known in political circles as the "ratables chase."
After investing $2 million in town money, most of it to move the public works operation, Alexander believes he can sell the agency's old location to a private developer of high-end homes. By his calculation, the new construction would enlarge Haddon Heights' property-tax base, or ratables, by about $13 million.
The resulting tax-revenue increase - plus rental fees from a log cabin the borough recently purchased as a venue for social affairs - eventually could reach $100,000 a year, Alexander said. He said he hoped that could stave off tax hikes in the town of 7,500 people.
"Over the first five years, it's a 238 percent return on investment," Alexander said. "Haddon Heights is turning into a place people want to live in, and we need to work on keeping it that way."
