Millstone OKs $6.4M budget

Township Committee
anticipates tax cut for second year in a row

By alison granito
Staff Writer

Millstone OKs
$6.4M budget
Township Committee
anticipates tax cut for second year in a row
By alison granito
Staff Writer

MILLSTONE — Residents will see a cut in the municipal portion of their tax bills for the second year in a row, according to the budget approved by the Township Committee last week.

At last week’s meeting, the committee adopted a $6,457,511 municipal budget that increases spending but uses $3.16 million in surplus to offset a jump in total spending, allowing officials to slash the municipal tax rate.

The cut would represent a savings of $52 on a single-family home assessed at $330,000, which would pay $113 in municipal taxes this year compared with $165 in 2002.

Republican Committeeman John Pfefferkorn cast the lone vote against the budget, which was approved 4-1.

Pfefferkorn said he feels the township is living beyond its means because of the spending increases that necessitated the use of surplus funds to offset the everyday operating expenses of the township. According to Pfefferkorn, this practice hurts the balance sheet in the long run.

"A tax increase is coming and it’s not going to be a penny, ladies and gentlemen," Pfefferkorn said to the residents at the meeting. "It’s going to be in the range of 10 to 15 cents. It’s just a matter of when it’s going to hit."

The total budget calls for a 28 percent reduction in the tax levy and includes a tax rate of 3.45 cents per $100 of assessed property valuation, a decrease of 1.55 cents from last year’s rate.

The total proposed budget is $6.4 million and represents an increase of approximately $500,000 over 2002. The budget includes a total tax levy of $425,297, which is a reduction of $169,548 from last year.

The budget’s use of $3.16 million of surplus is an increase of $626,664 from last year and is the main revenue source this year.

Committeeman Cory Wingerter, who co-chairs the finance committee with Committeeman Chet Halka, said he intends to look at a long-range municipal spending plan later this year.

Wingerter told Pfefferkorn, who was the committee’s sole chair of finance last year, that he contributed to the problems facing the township and challenged Pfefferkorn’s criticism of the budget.

"You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to know that taxes are going to go up," he said. "A lot of work went into this budget. It is a good budget.

"This year we will do what should have been done last year," Wingerter said in reference to the long-range financial plan.

Residents also weighed in with their comments on municipal spending habits during the public hearing on the budget.

Resident Frank Cotter asked the committee to move away from spending increases.

"I’d like to see the other side of the equation at least equal what is going out," he said.