E.B. gets $600K to lower property tax increase

First-time state aid
will reduce increase
to 7 cents

By vincent todaro
Staff Writer

E.B. gets $600K to lower
property tax increase
First-time state aid
will reduce increase
to 7 cents
By vincent todaro
Staff Writer

A proposed 10-cent increase in the East Brunswick municipal tax rate will come down 3 cents thanks to aid from the state.

Township officials, who made their case to the state that they were facing a large tax increase because of circumstances beyond their control, were elated to find out that the state will give East Brunswick $600,000 in extraordinary aid this year. The entire award will be used to decrease the municipal tax hike to 7 cents per $100 of assessed valuation.

The municipal tax rate will now be $1.11 per $100 of assessed valuation, meaning the owner of property assessed at $100,000 will pay $1,110 in municipal taxes for this year — an increase of $70 from last year.

Officials had attributed the tax increase to costs in their $49.7 million budget such as solid waste removal and recycling fees, which went up under a new contract.

"The fact is, we had this tremendous increase of about $800,000 in solid waste costs," council Vice President David Stahl said. "So to buffer the transition, the state gave us the extraordinary aid."

"To get the $600,000 and be able to reduce the tax by three points is great," he said.

To be eligible for extraordinary aid, a municipality must show that it is facing budget increases that were not the result of poor planning and that it is attempting to wean itself off the aid.

Mayor William Neary said the township never received extraordinary aid before under his administration.

"This year was a different one with the new solid waste contract," he said.

The fact that state aid has been flat for the past two years was another reason East Brunswick’s municipal taxes are increasing, Neary said.

Stahl said East Brunswick was eligible for the extraordinary aid because it proved it operates under a fiscally sound budget.

"As the second part of the equation [for the aid], you have to have a solid fiscal plan for the future," Stahl said. "(The state) wants to make sure the money is well-spent. We have been fiscally prudent and have a plan for the future."

"We just wanted to say, a suburban town that has done a good job shouldn’t be penalized," Neary said.

He said the township could have reduced the tax increase by cutting services or staff, but decided against such an action. In the future, possible cuts will be considered, but at this point the township is steer­ing clear of them.

"It does cost a little more, but right now we didn’t want to see cutbacks," Neary said.

Officials were not surprised to receive the money, he said, though the mayor ac­knowledged, "We got lucky."

Despite the increase of $800,000 for solid waste and recycling costs, Stahl said the town’s contract is still favorable com­pared to those in most towns.

"Despite our increase, our municipality has probably one of the lowest bids around," he said. The previous, lower rate was the result of "an incredibly low bid," he said.

State Sen. Barbara Buono (D-Middlesex) spoke at the July 14 Township Council meeting and presented the town­ship with a ceremonial check for the aid.

Buono sits on the state Senate Budget Committee.

"It’s nice to have the state senator and two assemblymen (Patrick J. Diegnan and Peter J. Barnes) working so hard on behalf of East Brunswick," Stahl said.