Township tax rate stable for 2006

Township Committee adopts $7 million budget without increasing municipal tax rate

By: Purvi Desai
   MILLSTONE — The Township Committee unanimously adopted a $7 million budget last week without increasing the municipal tax rate.
   The tax rate will remain at 9 cents per $100 of assessed property valuation. A resident with a property assessed at the township average of $401,100 will continue to pay $361 in municipal taxes this year.
   A public hearing on the budget was held May 3.
   Mayor Nancy Grbelja explained that the tax rate was kept steady this year because of changes in the handling of township finances and costs.
   "I think one of the biggest changes was in the middle of 2004 we switched our banking institutions," she said.
   Mayor Grbelja explained that she and Committeeman Elias Abilheira came into office in 2004 and reviewed the township finances and looked for competitive interest-bearing rates.
   "We had our money in an account that was bearing a one-tenth of a percent," Mayor Grbelja said Monday. "We shifted the money into an interest-bearing account that generated over $1 million, and that saved the taxpayers quite a bit of money."
   The second way the tax rate was kept steady was that the town switched to some long-term bonding at a lower interest rate, she said. "Just because you keep your tax rate flat, you still have to pay the debt that you incurred," Mayor Grbelja said. "In addition to bringing in increased money, we were also able to develop a plan that will allow us to pay off the township debt. We’re increasing our revenue and paying down debt."
   There also has been a change in professionals, as the township has a new engineering firm. "We are getting more for our dollar," she said. "The cost-savings has been caused by bringing in a new engineering firm in 2004 and our spending practices have been reviewed."
   Deputy Mayor Bob Kinsey outlined the budget for the committee and public at last week’s Township Committee meeting. "We’re going to have an overall increase in the budget of over $400,000, which is primarily (attributed to an increase in) salaries and additional debt service," Mr. Kinsey said. Last year, Millstone Township used $2,729,000 in budget surplus, Mr. Kinsey said, while this year the municipality is proposing to use $3 million of the surplus. That would leave about $3 million in surplus.
   "At the same time, by doing so, and looking at the tax collection rate, we’re anticipating at this point in time that there will be no increased tax rate on the municipal side," he said. "We will keep it flat for another year at 9 cents and hopefully we’ll be able … to continue to keep that flat again."
   Mr. Kinsey said although the township thought it was heading for "catastrophic tax increases" and that the municipal rate was "going to be through the roof at 24 cents in three years," the township has come nowhere close to the 24-cent mark. "These are not my accomplishments, these are the accomplishments of the employees of the town, a lot of volunteers and a lot of hard work," he said. "We know what we’re doing. This is a tight budget, it’s a good budget. It’s not a stretch. There’s no voodoo economics in here that would lead someone to believe that we’re playing games and manipulating numbers."
   Mayor Grbelja said she was pleased about the budget. "Everything is being put in the right order, we know exactly where the money is going."
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