Valerie Shultz,

For Honey Brook Township Supervisor

It would be an honor and privledge to serve as your Township Supervisor.

I want to ensure that your local government treats you with respect and serves as your advocate!

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About

About Me

I'm a 24-year resident of Honey Brook Township and have been committed to serving the community

I was born and raised in a rural agricultural community in NE PA and moved to Honey Brook Township in 2000. I moved here because of the beautiful open space, farm fresh produce, low cost of living and low crime. Honey Brook was also a reasonable commute to work (it used to take me 15 minutes to get to Downingtown) and close to good food and great local parks.

I am the mother of two grown children who were graduates of Twin Valley and two German Shepherd dogs. I am a PhD Toxicologist working for a pharmaceutical company. I chaired a PTO committee to replace the Honey Brook elementary playground nearly 20 years ago and have provided meals to local families in need and local police departments at Christmas for the last 10 years. I have been committed to serving the residents of Honey Brook Township and improving their quality of life.

In 2023, I initiated a petition to place a referendum on the ballot to add two supervisors to the three-member board. Despite the lack of support from the local Republican Committee people, precinct 300 voted 'yes' to add two supervisors by 57.37% (east of 322). Unfortunately, we were unable to gain access to Tel Hai for campaigning and as a result the referendum did not pass by 225 votes! Residents clearly want a change in leadership. My opponent does not represent policies that are any different than previous Supervisors. In fact, all of the current Supervisors signed his petition to have him on the ballot as a candidate.

WHY VOTE FOR ME?

Are you feeling dismissed or disrespected by the current Supervisors when you comment during Township meetings or voice your concerns on social media?

Have you reached out to the Township to ask for help with PennDot or other Township issue and were told we can't help you?

Have you reached out to the State Police for help and were told we can't get out to help you for 2-3 hours?

Are you frustrated with the development in Honey Brook Township and Supervisors who say there is nothing we can do to protect open space and current residents?

If the answer is 'Yes" to any of those questions, it's time for a change. And here's why:

Over the last two years of speaking to Honey Brook Township residents, I have heard many concerns regarding the leadership in our local government. Many residents feel that the Township dismisses their concerns and does not give them the opportunity to express themselves at public meetings. They also feel disrespected on social media. In addition, they are concerned about the increasing development of the township and the safety issues that arise from a growing community.

As a Township Supervisor, I am committed to the following:

Ensure responsible development that protects current residents and open space
Explore the options for local police coverage and possible funding options within the current budget
- Ensure the budget is transparent and that expenditures are necessary and responsible
Restore free speech to township meetings to allow local residents to inform the Township board of community needs
Restore Townhall meetings and workshop meetings where residents can get more background on agenda items and ask for items to be added to the agenda

Why Vote For Me

What Is A Committee

What are the issues on residents minds?

What is the Land Preservation Program doing with my 0.5% EIT contribution if we are seeing so much development?

The Honey Brook Township Land Preservation (LP) program is a voluntary program that provides an easement to prevent the land from being developed. It is funded by 0.5% earned income tax (EIT) from Honey Brook Township and addition to the county, state, and other grants. Parcels of 10 acres or more are eligible.
70% of the land in Honey Brook Township is used for farmland. Of that land, 35% of it (or 4,710 acres) has been preserved. This has been a huge success in preventing development on valuable farmland!
Honey Brook Township’s Open Space Program has been in place for 20 years and generates approximately $840,000 each year on average. The original intent of the Land Preservation program was to have a finite lifespan of 20 years.
The Land Preservation money is currently being invested at a rate of 8% and is currently at $8,313,328 as of March 2025 (based on March treasurers report). In the last 5 years, applications have dwindled. I have asked the Supervisors on a number of occasions when they will consider ending or reducing the EIT and have received no response.
Two $400,000 transfers from the LP fund were transferred to Parks and Rec. One was made in 2020 and was approved by the board. A second transfer of $400,000 was made in 2021 that the board did not authorize. This money was returned Jan 2025 after I and other residents insisted.
Pennsylvania statue Title 32 P.S. Forests, Waters and State Parks § 5007.1 4(ii) states up to 25% of the annual revenue from the levy authorized by referendum, to develop, improve, design, engineer and maintain property acquired pursuant to this act for an open space benefit or benefits (if the park was acquired under the land preservation act, land preservation money can be used to maintain the park...Umble park was not acquired under the land preservation program). Steve Jones is misleading residents by saying this money can be used for parks and recreation.

What are the elected auditors concerns if we have a budget surplus?

After discovering that there was an unauthorized transfer of $400,000 from the LP fund to Parks and Recreation, I decided to run for elected auditor in 2023.
According to PA1933 Act 69 (Article IX section 901), Honey Brook Township is required to hold an elected auditors meeting the day after the Supervisors reorganization meeting. Prior to 2023, this meeting had never been held in the history of the Township. Following my request to conduct an auditors meeting, the Township scheduled the first auditors meeting in Jan 2024. The Jan 2025 elected auditors meeting was the second meeting conducted to date for Honey Brook Township.
The only official role for the elected auditor is to set the mileage rate for Township vehicle use and hourly rate for Supervisors if they fill in for Township employees. Unofficially, the elected auditors have been examining the budget.
Below are the findings:
- Increase in revenue from 2021-2024: $453,715 (17.3% increase)
- Increase in expenses from 2021-2024: $1,035,770 (58% increase)
- Expenses have grown 2.29x faster than revenue
- Key line items expenses for growth: 109% increase in administrative costs, 55% total general government (Fire/EMS, Code enforcement, planning/zoning), 72% public safety and 376% maintenance roads and bridges
So, the bottom line is we still have a surplus at the end of 2024 of $242,371 but the trend is that expense growth is greater than revenue growth. Our recommendation is that expenses should be controlled so that we can continue to have a surplus.
- All data used for the analysis was obtain from the year end 2024 budget.

Local law enforcement: What happened to our coverage and can we afford to get it back?

On Dec 2005, the Township Supervisors sent a letter to the residents notifying them that the local police department was being disbanded. There had been incidents with the two full time officers that led them to this decision. The Township was paying $250,000/year for two officers which was giving them 30-40% coverage with the State Police providing the remaining coverage.
The community did not see taxes reduced after the police department was disbanded. Several residents have inquired how the tax money for police was used since then, with no clear answers. In 2023, residents asked the board of supervisors to create a community task force to look into options for local law enforcement coverage, sharing concerns about how long it takes state police to respond. At the time, John McHugh was supportive but did not have the support of the remaining supervisors. Supervisors at the time (and again in 2025) state that taxes would need to be increased to support a police department, without citing any analysis into the various police coverage options and associated costs.
John McHugh, a sitting Supervisor at the time, proposed reducing the 0.5% EIT to 0.25% to provide approximately $400,000 for local police coverage. The remaining 0.25% EIT could maintain the LP program. The Supervisors refused to put forward a referendum to reduce the EIT and took no further action to provide law enforcement coverage beyond State Police coverage. Theoretically, the money reduced in EIT could then be added to local taxes resulting in a net zero increase in tax burden.
Residents I have spoken to are not calling for a standalone police department, mainly due to the cost. In early 2023, the Honey Brook borough police chief spoke at a supervisors meeting, asking supervisors to assist the borough in exploring police options that would include township coverage. While no commitment by the supervisors was made at the meeting, there has been nothing presented at subsequent supervisor meetings that the matter was analyzed and that options were considered and shared with the borough and public. I am seeing even more residents now than in 2023 raising this topic as a priority and asking for all options to be considered.
Exploring options for local police coverage and ways to fund it are long overdue.

How can the township ensure responsible development?

The Honey Brook Township Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance (SALDO) regulates the requirements and procedures for subdivision and development of land. The current SALDO allows for the developer to declare a hardship (with no documented evidence or definition of said hardship) enabling them to not adhere to the ordinance and imposes a $500 fine if they choose not to follow the ordinance (which is negligible). There is also language in the current SALDO that allows for developers to choose not to preserve open space or provide a fee in lieu of open space. In addition, the current SALDO allows Supervisors to arbitrarily reduce the open space or recreation requirements as they see fit. The preservation of open space (usable open space and not including wetlands or other sensitive environmental areas) should be protected by the SALDO. In addition, traffic studies that are required for all new developments have often been unhelpful because they are not required to be DOT certified. These studies are important to ensure the developers mitigate any traffic safety concerns caused by the development.
The SALDO also provides requirements for lot size and density of housing which can vary depending on the zoning. If a developer wants to deviate from the requirements, they must request a variance or special exception from the zoning board. There are criteria that the developer must meet in order to have their request to deviate from the SALDO approved. Following a zoning board hearing for a proposed high density housing development in 2023, the community was upset that the developer was granted the special exception despite failing to meet multiple criteria. One of the zoning board members indicated that they were unable to reject the request from the developer because the wording of the required evidence was too vague. More precise language would allow the zoning board to protect the community from uncontrolled development.

*I have no conflict of interest and do not stand to gain anything through Township business or policies.

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