Lawrence expects to mail tax bills soon

State budget crisis delayed township’s process.

By: Brooke Olster
   Tax bills may not be mailed to property owners as early as planned, but should be out during the first half of July, according to township officials.
   The current tax bills have been held up due to the state’s inability to adopt its annual budget, said Municipal Manager William Guhl. State law requires that certain information pertaining to the impact of state aid on local budgets be placed on bills.
   The state finalized its budget in a last-minute deal Monday evening and adopted Tuesday, just after the end of the fiscal year, which concludes each June 30.
   "The state budget dilemma won’t result in the bills being significantly late," Mr. Guhl said.
   Township Council approved its $31.4 million municipal budget March 25. It is $850,000 more than the 2002 budget of $30.5 million. Some of the $850,000 increase includes $515,000 for group health insurance, because of a state health benefits rate increase. Also, there is an increase of $158,000 for landfill and trash removal costs, due to the terms of the contract and an increase in the amount of trash collected.
   In past years, the delay in sending bills was due to the problems with the county adopting its budget on time. The state has a set Aug. 1 deadline for which bills are due, but once the bills are sent out, the town is obligated to allow property and commercial owners a 25-day period to send in their payments. If taxpayers fail to make their payments within the 25 day period granted by the town, they face an interest charge correlated to their tax bill.
   Mr. Guhl said that as long as payments are collected in August, he doesn’t foresee any cash flow problems for the township like last year.
   "I’m still optimistic that we will be able to meet the August 1 deadline," Mr. Guhl said.
   The overall tax rate this year is $2.99 for every $100 of assessed value, up from $2.86 in 2002. This means that an owner of a house assessed the township average of $167,000 will pay a tax bill of $4,993.30, an increase of $217.10 from $4776.20 in 2002.
   The breakdown of the new tax rates are as follows: the school district tax rate is $1.67, up 10 cents, the municipal rate is up 1 cent to 52 cents, the county rate increases to 77 cents, up 2 cents from the previous year; and the open space tax rate remains unchanged at 3 cents.
   Thus, only 18 percent of property owners’ tax bills help local services, while schools and the county receive 82 percent of the tax revenue.