BY CHRISTINE VARNO
Staff Writer
LONG BRANCH – The City Council adopted a $38 million municipal spending plan last week that will result in a tax decrease for city residents.
The budget calls for a 1-cent decrease in the municipal tax rate, bringing last year’s tax rate of 94.3 cents per $100 of assessed property value to 93.3 cents per $100.
Council unanimously adopted the spending plan at the May 11 meeting and there was no comment from the audience during the public hearing held prior to the adoption of the budget.
Under the 2006 budget, the average homeowner in Long Branch whose home is assessed at $248,000 will pay $25 less in taxes annually, city Financial Director Ronald Mehlhorn explained.
The budget calls for a tax levy of $23,282,000, according to Mehlhorn.
Also at the meeting, council adopted resolution 158-06, recommending that the school board cut $499,227 from the $83.7 million school spending plan for the 2006/07 school year that was rejected by voters on April 18.
According to the resolution, “The council has determined that the annual school budget for the year 2006-07 proposed by the board [of education] may be reduced without any adverse effect upon the quality of education provided to the students of the Long Branch school system.”
The defeated school budget was sent to the City Council to make changes to the amount of money the district plans to raise through taxes.
If the school board believes the changes the council has made would too severely affect district operations, it may appeal the council’s decision to the state commissioner of education who would have the last word on any revisions to the budget.
But Long Branch Superintendent of Schools Joseph M. Ferraina said in an interview Monday that the school board has accepted the adjustment recommended by council and was scheduled to adopt a final school budget at the May 17 Board of Education meeting.
At this point, Ferraina said the budget is still under final review by the school board but the board plans to increase revenue sources in the budget to fund the cuts recommended by council.
Under the new budget, the average Long Branch homeowner, whose home is assessed at approximately $250,000, will be paying $141 more in school taxes annually, according to Ferraina.
The failed school budget proposed a tax levy of $29.6 million, but the new spending plan will lower the tax levy to $28.2 million, according to Ferraina.