Crossing Cheltenham Avenue!

Ever try crossing Cheltenham Avenue? It's no picnic let me tell you!

At the time that I took this photo you can see that it's hardly no traffic which is a rare occurence! On some Sundays there seems to be hardly any traffic and Saturdays seem to be the worse!

Often times when I'm trying to cross Cheltenham Avenue the drivers will take pity on me and stop and let me cross. But since Cheltenham Avenue is 2 lanes going both ways that means that the other drivers have to cooperate as well!

In this picture you're looking at the Philadelphia side of Cheltenham avenue going towards Broad Street. I think I was on my way to the store when I took this picture.

There is not a Septa bus in sight!

Well The 2nd Property Tax Bill of the Year Came Yesterday!

The 2nd property tax bill came in the mail - and by God its a BIG one! I don't know about your property but the bill for mine is over $2,500! Now you can't pay this property tax bill in installments but you do get a (2% - I think) discount if you pay this property tax bill early.

There was a reference to the "Homestead" Act but you must have already filled out the form for that. If your property is part of the Homestead designation then you can pay your property tax bill in three installments. However there are some conditions and there are also some very stiff penalities. If you claim the Homestead option and choose to pay your property tax bill in installments then you are not eligible for the discount. Also too if you pay your installments late then you could be charged a 10% penalty.

Now I looked this all over when I got the property tax bill and I thought that it would just be a good idea to have this money saved in advance of the time that it was due. That way you would have the money early enough to be able to pay the discounted amount. But not everyone has this financial capability.

To tell you the truth I really think the best option for paying this property tax bill is just to have the money saved up in advance so you can pay the discounted amount.

Quarterly EIT Taxes Due By July 31st

This reminder popped up on my computer screen! It's a good thing that it did because I totally forgot about it!

Just in case you don't know - EIT stands for Earned Income Tax. It is a tax that the residents pay on their income. Currently it's 1 percent of our income that is taxed. However the residents have to file an estimated tax return quarterly - every 4 months. The current one is due by July 31st - which - this time - is on a Tuesday and not the weekend.

What you have to do is fill out the quarterly tax form - which you can get from the company that is handling the taxes - and send it in along with your payment. I have talked with these people on more than one occassion and I have found out that while you don't have to send in the actual copies of proof of your income you DO have to fill out the form - regardless of how much your estimated income is. You will not be reminded to send in the tax form and you won't get a reminder in the mail. You have to remember to do this on your own! (Which is one of the reasons why I have put a "reminder" on my desktop).

If you make less than $3,000 a year you won't owe any tax BUT you still have to fill out the form and send it in.

I don't have the address in front of me but I will add it.

Lots of friendly chatter on the Cheltenham Bus Today

The Cheltenham Bus was full of friendly chatter today as we each went to our different stops. Just in case you don't know the Cheltenham Bus is our local bus that runs throughout the Cheltenham area. It goes to the Cedarbrook Mall, the Cheltenham Mall, and the train station. For area residents that are over 55 the fare is free. For residents under 55 the fare is $4 per trip But you can buy a 10 trip ticket for $10 - that makes it $1 per trip.

There was a time back where our beloved local bus was in threat of being cancelled but the township decided to split the week with Abington so now our Cheltenham Bus runs on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. I think that this is much better than not having the bus at all. I do wish that that Shoprite logo was on the bus because that was advertising revenue for the bus - thus helping us to keep it running.