Plumsted unveils municipal budget

Tax rate stable under proposed plan.

By: Scott Morgan
   PLUMSTED — The township introduced its 2003 operating budget Monday night, a proposal that would not raise the municipal tax rate for a 14th straight year.
   This year’s proposed budget is $3.9 million, an increase of approximately $511,000 over last year’s adopted budget of $3.39 million. Even with the increase, the township’s municipal tax rate remains constant at 12 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. A resident living in a home assessed at the average value of $150,000 can expect to pay $180 in municipal taxes.
   The municipal rate has been constant since 1990.
   The increase over last year’s total budget amount, Mayor Ron Dancer explained, is due to the presence of $650,000 in state and county grants for capital projects. For 2003, the township has received $400,000 from Ocean County for the Natural Lands Acquisition program and another $250,000 from the state Department of Transportation for road and sidewalk improvements.
   Grants also helped lower the township’s contribution to municipal salaries, Mayor Dancer said.
   In 2002, the municipal salary portion of the budget was $1,037,207. For 2003, it is set to be $1,018,635. Mayor Dancer said that despite no layoffs and a blanket pay raise for every municipal employee (everyone gets at least 3.5 percent over last year’s salary), the township is paying less for salaries in 2003 thanks to a $125,000 federal grant for maintaining a police officer in the district schools.
   Apart from the state-funded road and sidewalk projects, Mayor Dancer said the township is anticipating several smaller capital improvement projects. The township will spend $85,000 toward various road improvements around Plumsted, $70,000 for improvements to various municipal buildings and properties, $25,000 to either rebuild or acquire a new parking lot downtown and $10,000 toward renovations to the historic firehouse on Evergreen Road.
   These projects, the mayor said, will be financed by cash (not bonds), in part through use of the township’s remaining $614,900 surplus from last year’s budget.
   Mayor Dancer said the township is able to maintain a stable tax rate by sensible financial planning and patience. Over the past decade, the township has managed to save money in its capital reserve account, using saved and invested money to help pay for large projects that otherwise would raise the tax rate. The mayor also credited conservative revenue projections, successful and aggressive grant-seeking efforts, aggressive tax collection (the municipal tax collection rate is around 98 percent) and disciplined spending in township departments, which must clear all purchases, "whether paperclips or pencils" through a member of the Township Committee first.
   "There is no mindset that because it’s in the budget (you either) use it or lose it," Mayor Dancer said.
   In addition, Mayor Dancer said the tax rate has remained steady thanks to the township’s farmland, natural areas and open space preservation programs, which, he said, control development and, thus, growth. Managed growth, the mayor said, yields more than just a reduction in services for residents-to-be but also a steady bottom line for those residents already in town.
   The Township Committee is set to open the final budget to public discussion on March 10 when it is also expected to vote.