Township Council trims Fire District 2 budget
Along with tax cut, officials make many adjustments
to 2002 spending plan
OCEAN TOWNSHIP — Property owners in Fire District 2 will face a slightly reduced tax increase for 2002. Very slightly. The Township Council reduced the requested increase for the coming year from 0.9 cents to 0.6 cents.
Voters rejected the district’s 2002 budget of $898,922, of which $607,118 was to be raised through property taxes, in a Feb. 16 referendum on the spending plan on the ballot in the annual Fire District election. That budget called for an estimated property tax rate of 10.9 cents per $100 of assessed valuation.
"The budget was defeated by 17 votes," according to John P. Francis, fire marshal for District 2.
Last week the council made several changes to the budget, including altering the tax rate to 10.6 per $100 of assessed value.
While reducing the amount to be raised through taxes by $19,000, the council reduced the total budget by $83,889.
To cover the additional reductions, the council reduced expected revenues and other line items in the spending plan and reduced the amount of surplus the original plan appropriated to cover expenses.
"It was important," said Mayor Terrance D. Weldon, "that the surplus be built back up to avoid a future spike in the district’s budget which would be added to the overall residents’ budget."
According to David R. Kochel, township administrator, surplus available is in the amount of $225,000, of which fire commissioners proposed to use $220,000. That number was cut to $150,000.
Commissioners also anticipated a dramatic increase in the cost of hydrant rentals. They said the expected increase would come from new construction at Seaview Square Mall and the development of Cedar Village, and raised the anticipated cost of hydrant rentals from $67,000 to $83,000. The likelihood of the $16,000 jump was disputed by the council.
"There is no way," said Kochel, "that could increase so much. We are talking about a 25-percent increase."
According to Francis, the district rents 185 fire hydrants at a cost of $390 per hydrant per year. "We are anticipating more rentals for new developments within the district," he said. "We won’t know until developers submit applications to the water company for mains to service the hydrants, but budgeting for them now will offset future increases."
One of the largest single expenses cut by the council was for gym memberships. That line item was reduced from $22,000 to $12,000, a 46-percent decrease.
Kochel also advised the council that the district’s liability insurance was underbudgeted and should be increased by $9,000.
The council adopted the revised budget and will be forwarding it to the state.