The Daily News from Lebanon, Pennsylvania • 1

Weather Tonight: 35. Tomorrow: Partly sunny; high 54. Page7A Index Valley Life Stamps bring history to life for collector. Page IB Sports Elcos Miller grinds Dutchmen for shutout Page 1C Business 7C Classifieds 8C-4D Comics 5C Editonal 6A Entertainment 2B Hometown 6C Obituaries 2A Public Notices 3D Region 3A TV 2B Tuesday, April 12, 2005 ethel berglary bust Tiny cop shop serving as makeshift emporium By RORY SCHULER other items, all labeled with orange ship residents, who each will be evidence tags. In all, police said they discovered 75 stolen items, worth an estimated $8,700, stashed in a Bethel Township home in an investigation that started in December.

Police have returned about $2,950 worth of the items, mostly tools, to about 10 different owners. They still have more than $5,750 in merchandise to return before they file charges, police said yesterday. Clark said there are likely two adults and a juvenile, all Bethel Town charged with at least 10 counts of theft and receiving stolen property. Additional charges could be filed, he said. The names of the two adults will be released at the conclusion of the investigation, police said.

Were not sure if we can tie them to the burglaries, Clark said. But we will charge them for the stolen property Bethel police found the items after state police discovered a stolen car on (OWNERS, page 4A) Staff Writer BETHEL Breaking up the burglary ring was the easy part. The hard part will be finding all the victims. Cpl. William F.

Clark picked up a video recorder yesterday from a large table taking up most of the space in a room of the small police headquarters in Bethel Township, Berks County. The rest of the table was covered by hatchets, buzz saws, a compound bow, a BB gun, a portable DVD player, and Bethel Township (Berks) police Cpl. William F. Clark shows off a video recorder, one of scores of items recovered from a local burglars lair. City schools budget hikes tax rate 6 Countys oldest resident turns 107 By RORY SCHULER Staff Writer Its her party; she can sleep if she wants to.

As the festivities swirled around her, Martha Olt believed to be Lebanon Countys oldest resident celebrated her 107th birthday by closing her eyes and taking a series of catnaps in between congratulations offered by shouting guests. Family members and friends snapped pictures. Her daughter and house mate, Betty Mease, 75, of South Lebanon leaned down to get the birthday girls attention. Rory Schuler Lebanon Daily News Martha Olt celebrates her 107th birthday with daughter Betty Mease at Cedar Haven yesterday. Smile, mom, she yelled into the hearing aid in Olts right ear.

Show them your teeth. Olt smiled wide and, with a deft maneuver of her tongue, flipped her dentures backward, nearly spitting them onto a piece of birthday cake. Look at all the flowers, she said, shaking her head. So many flowers. A cafeteria full of bingo pals and acquaintances gathered at Cedar Haven yesterday to honor Lebanon Countys oldest citizen as (COUNTYS, page 4A) Assessment appeals leave questions on revenue side By JOHN LATIMER Staff Writer As if trying to predict commodity costs and other unknown expenses isnt hard tax-assessment appeals for three city apartment complexes have been causing additional headaches for Lebanon School District business manager George Longridge as he prepares next years budget.

For the past several months, Longridge has been compiling next years anticipated revenue and expenditure information to balance the budget. The process is always a guessing game, to a degree. But this year it was made more difficult, he said, because of property-tax appeals for the Lebanon Court, Lebanon Towne House and Brookside apartment complexes. Tens of thousands of dollars in property-tax revenue hang in the balance as the district awaits court rulings on the appeals, which initially were rejected in October by the coun-(APPEALS, page 4A) which was done to allow the county to exceed a tax-rate cap was revenue-neutral because it was accompanied by cutting millage rates in half. For the district, that meant the millage rate dropped from 177 mills to 88.5 mills.

On the tax- (DISTRICT, page 4A) By JOHN LATIMER Staff Writer Rising expenses and stagnant revenue have again conspired to create a need for a tax increase that will cost the average city property owner more than $50 next year, Superintendent Marianne Bartley told the Lebanon school board last night. Bartley and district business manager George Lon-gridge unveiled their $39.75 million budget proposal recommending a millage rate increase of 5.74 mills, or 6.09 percent. Et tu, Elco? The Elco school board last night gave preliminary approval to a 2005-06 budget funded in part by a 5.7 percent tax increase. Page 3A The proposed budget is 13 percent higher than this years $35.1 million budget, which included a 4 percent tax increase. The tax hike would raise enough money to make up for an estimated $365,000 revenue shortfall and would add $700,000 to the districts fund balance, which is currently empty, Bartley said.

The current millage rate in the Lebanon School District is 88.5 mills. If that sounds less than last years millage rate, thats because it is. As a consequence of the county commissioners recent decision to increase the tax-assessment ratio from 50 percent to 100 percent, the' millage rate in Lebanon, and all of the countys school districts and municipalities, has undergone a change for the 2005-06 tax year. The move He said the IRS anticipates that almost 9 million will request extensions so they can file late returns, and 2 million to 3 million are expected to miss Fridays due date. If theres a deadline, some people vrill do almost anything to avoid it, Smith said.

About a fourth of those responsible for their familys tax preparations said they had yet to start their Poll: Americans want simpler tax system returns or only began preparing them the week before they were asked, according to the poll taken last week. Simplifying the tax system is the goal of a federal panel created by President Bush that will collect information over the next few months and is expected to offer recommendations by midsummer. (SURVEY, page 4A) ducted for The Associated Press by Ipsos-Public Affairs. Nearly half of the respondents 49 percent said theyd rather go to the dentist than fill out their tax form. Nearly a third of the 133 million income tax returns expected this year will arrive at the Internal Revenue Service during the last two to three weeks before the April 15 deadline, IRS spokesman Eric Smith said.

WASHINGTON (AP) -Most Americans think federal income taxes are too complicated, but theyre not eager to simplify tax preparation by getting rid of some deductions and tax credits, according to an AP-Ipsos poll. Forty-five percent of those polled support eliminating them, while 51 percent oppose that approach. Millions of Americans are scrambling to meet the April 15 tax deadline. Many acknowledge they dread preparing the tax forms. Anybody who says they dont mind their taxes is lying, said businessman William Long of Ferris, Texas.

I definitely put them off until the last minute, even when money is coming back. I just dont want to deal with them. Seven in 10 said their federal taxes are too complicated, according to a poll con few ONk OflMB VHV HfcfcTLOOKM LOOKING 'tvv Ask for BRENDA MILLER Office 717.270.2680 Cell 717.813.1700 ik liS THINKING OF THINK BRENDA MILLER! SPRING INTO SOLD RESULTS! FREE COMPROMISE for LESS than ONE of the BEST? 1 888 55REMAX SeeMY AD on the Cover of Tuesdays Real Estate section EVERY TUESDAY! nf LSI MY Thanks to Referral are Always It a picture pamts a Then a referral savs YOU! Appreciated. thousand words, a million pin ti PTAT BU YMa wltti MUM slAMtl mi BltlMDA MILtMt.