JACKSON TWP — Township officials have refuted an anonymous letter regarding housing development and tax issues in the township.

At the township planning commission meeting Wednesday night, they said there is no truth to the letter that some residents have received.

The letter, written in marker, says low income housing will be built in the developments by the Connoquenessing Creek.

It also claims the county tax office is looking at some companies that have not been paying their taxes.

“Nothing has been presented to the township whatsoever about anything like that,” planning commission chairman Jay Grinnell said about low income housing. “The developer (Don Rodgers) had some questions about it, but that’s as far as it went.”

Grinnell said people living in area housing developments like that in the letter have an average yearly income of $26,000 to $50,000.

“I believe most employees of Harmony borough as well as my employees of Harmony Ambulance would fit into workforce housing,” he said.

The planning commission also said there is no tax investigation by the county and added taxes have not increased.

Township manager Chris Rearick said the township has been in talks with the county, and all new construction for companies have been assessed at some level.

He said the only issues that occurred involved sending permits for the John Bame property for two buildings and access to MarkWest.

“There were a couple of other buildings (Bame property) constructed that the county didn’t catch,” Rearick said. “That’s since been addressed.”

Chris Savage, Butler County chief assessor, said there is no investigation being done by the assessment office.

“What happened was a few building permits did not reach my office,” Savage said. “So after a few phone calls, we started getting permits in from Jackson Township.”

Rearick said the county wasn’t able initially to gain access to MarkWest, a gas processing company to assess the property.

“They’ve since gotten in and assessed those buildings,” he said. “At the end of the day, I’m not really sure what it would serve the township to try hiding assessments from the county, especially with a building like FedEx which is readily visible from the interstate.”

Savage confirmed MarkWest has been assessed by the county. He said some safety concerns with the facility were addressed.

“To me, it’s not a big issue. We have the buildings that are in question,” he said. “We now have the correct contact, and we will be reviewing that property every time they get a building permit.”

Rearick said some buildings like FedEx have not been fully assessed because they are not yet occupied.

A couple of people in the meeting said they received the letter. However, no one claimed to write it.

“If no one will come to a meeting, either this or the supervisors and speak up, and just distribute an anonymous note, I think it belongs in the garbage and no one should address it,” planning commission member Bob McGuire said.

The planning commission said it would not allow for public comment on the matter because it was not an agenda item.