for 2004 up $1.9M
from last year
Municipal budget
for 2004 up $1.9M
from last year
BY JOLENE HART
Staff Writer
SAYREVILLE — After narrowly evading a municipal tax hike in 2003, residents could see an increase in the coming year.
Without any extraordinary aid from the state, the municipal tax rate could jump 7 cents, to 77 cents per $100 of assessed valuation, under a 2004 municipal budget currently before the Borough Council.
For the average Sayreville home, assessed at $139,500, that tax hike would mean paying an additional $94.86, bringing the total amount to be paid in municipal taxes to $1,071 per year. Municipal taxes are just one portion of a homeowner’s property tax bill, which also includes school, county and fire district taxes.
The total municipal budget for 2004, introduced March 8 by the council at $39.9 million, represents a $1.9 million increase over last year’s spending package, according to the borough’s chief financial officer, Wayne Kronowski. The $16.9 million to be raised in taxes is $1.8 million over last year’s tax levy.
In all, the borough’s budget is $338,000 under the state’s cap, which limits spending increases to 2.5 percent per year, Kronowski said.
The proposed budget contains no major reductions, though some cuts were made to keep the total increase to a minimum, according to Kronowski.
The largest area of spending in the borough’s budget is attributed to salaries and wages, which will increase by $1.1 million this year. An extra position in the clerk’s office and two part-time positions are being added in the 2004 budget. Health benefits and insurance, another considerable area of spending, will see a $274,000 increase this year.
The borough will pick up the $130,000 annual cost of pension deductions, which the state plans to assess for the next five years. An additional year of garbage collection for borough apartments, amounting to $100,000, will also be phased in for the third year.
The capital improvement budget will provide for the resurfacing of various roads, at a cost of $3.3 million, as well as paying for a commuter parking lot and the purchase of a new garbage truck and front-end loader.
The borough also hopes to complete the second phase of River Road Waterfront Park, with the addition of a boat ramp and bulkhead. Various improvements to borough parks are provided for in the budget, at a cost of $1 million.
While the budget is being reviewed by the Borough Council, council President Thomas Pollando will head a committee to look more closely at overtime costs, which are around $1.3 million this year.
"We’re taking a hard look at how we spend our overtime and hoping to get it down as much as we can," Pollando said. "We’re having all our department heads look at their overtime expenses, and we’re definitely looking to change things this year. You have to start somewhere."
The borough will also seek state extraordinary aid to defray the tax increase. In 2003, Sayreville received $250,000 in state aid, and a similar award is anticipated this year, Kronowski said.
The budget will be discussed at a meeting of the Borough Council on April 12. A vote on its adoption is likely at the end of June, following the announcement of the discretionary aid contribution.