Commissioners Discuss Public Purchase of Bancroft

The Haddonfield Board of Commissioners are scheduled to meet at 7:30 p.m. tonight at the Municipal Hall for an action meeting, which includes a discussion about the cost of a public purchase of the Bancroft property.

Commissioners are expected to discuss a study from its redevelopment attorney which lays out projections of the cost of buying the 18.7-acre Bancroft site on King Highway East.

The Bancroft redevelopment has been a potentially divisive topic for more than a decade. The debate has been framed by whether to use the property for more open space, a high-school expansion and more athletic fields or for tax-generating businesses or housing. Borough commissioners had favored a plan to build an assisted-living retirement complex on the site, but a public backlash about "high-density" development forced them to scrap the plan and start over last December.

The cost presented are only estimates, based on a set of assumptions, officials stressed. Some of the assumptions include the purchase price of Bancroft. Officials there want $15 million but the borough assesses the property at $12 million, which might be less than the actual market value. An additional $16 dollars must be added to the $271 in additional taxes for every additional $1 million of costs.

Other assumptions include a total price of acquisition, demolition and site improvements of $19.52 million, but only $14.27 million to be financed. The estimate includes nearly $4 million in state and county grants. Only about $500,000 in grants have been specifically committed to the project to date.

Other considerations for the public purchase include school board plans to build a new library and learning center at Bancroft. Those projects were not included in borough's estimate. School taxes make up the majority of the $12,000 annual typical tax bill in the borough.

Haddonfield’s average property tax bill of $12,088.88 is nearly twice the state average at $7,776, according to the state Department of Community Affairs. Haddonfield has the second highest average property tax bill in Camden County. It trails Tavistock, an exclusive enclave at the tip of Haddonfield, enclosed mostly in an exclusive golf course. Haddonfield's property tax bills are 27 percent higher than Voorhees, $8,777.41, third in the county.