Spending up in Monroe, but municipal tax rate staying the same.
By: Bill greenwood
MONROE Spending may increase, but the average municipal tax bill will not, if a proposed $37.9 million municipal budget is approved by the Township Council.
The proposed budget is $2.23 million or 6.25 percent larger than 2006’s $35.67 million budget, and raises $19.7 million from taxes, $941,417 more than last year.
However, if it is passed, the tax rate will remain at 56 cents per $100 of assessed valuation because of a $181 million increase in the township’s total taxable property value. Township Business Manager Wayne Hamilton said construction of 587 new houses in 2006 was responsible for the ratable increase.
The budget was presented by Mayor Richard Pucci and Mr. Hamilton and then introduced by the Township Council on Monday. Public workshop sessions have been scheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesday in the municipal courtroom and 7 p.m. Thursday in the mayor’s conference room. A public hearing has been scheduled for April 4.
If the budget is approved, the owner of a home assessed at the township average of $175,102 would pay $981 in municipal taxes.
The budget increase is being caused by increases in the reserve for uncollected taxes, group health insurance, police salaries and wages, and contributions to the Public Employees’ Retirement System and Police and Firemen’s Retirement System of New Jersey. There also were decreases in the amount of money the township spends for capital improvements and municipal debt service.
The amount of money the township will place in its reserve for uncollected taxes or money set aside to protect the township against tax delinquents will increase by $600,000 to $1.48 million.
"If your collection ratio goes down a little bit, then what happens correspondingly is you have to put a higher reserve amount in the budget as an appropriation the following year," Mr. Hamilton said. "That’ll correct itself again at the end of this year."
Group health insurance costs increased by $590,542 to $4.06 million. Mr. Hamilton said the increase was normal because rates are generally increasing across the board..
The budget also includes a $428,596 increase to $5.73 million for police salaries as well as a $119,085 increase to $886,402 for Division of First Aid salaries; an $89,826 increase to $1.3 million for Division of Streets and Roads salaries; an $85,724 increase to $441,680 for transportation salaries; a $76,154 increase to $390,411 for Division of Planning salaries; and a $35,689 increase to $229,999 for buildings and grounds salaries.
Mr. Hamilton said the budget provides for the hiring of five new employees, including a computer administrator at a starting salary of $52,500 and a police officer at a starting salary of $37,856; a public information officer at a starting salary of $44,918; an employee at a starting salary of about $30,000 in the Division of Streets and Roads; and a professional planner at a starting salary of about $80,000 in the Division of Planning.
Mr. Hamilton said the computer administrator job was the only new position that had been filled. He said he expected the police officer and the Division of Streets and Roads employee to be mid-year hires, and the public information officer is scheduled to be hired in April. He said the township has not yet started to seek a planner but budgeted money for the position in case it decides to go that route.
"As the town grows, so does the demand for services," Mr. Hamilton said. "That’s what drives some of the new hires."
Contributions to the PERS increased by $236,163 to $391,399, and contributions to the PFRS increased $180,073 to $406,653. Mr. Hamilton said the pension numbers are calculated by the state and sent to municipalities, adding that this year’s bill contained a "substantial increase."
The amount of money spent on Social Security increased by $96,340 to $1.19 million and "other expenses" increased by $25,450 to $49,600 for the Division of First Aid, $125,000 to $260,000 for the landfill, $70,000 to $308,500 for buildings and grounds, and $62,750 to $82,000 for the Division of Planning.
However, the amount of money the township plans to set aside for capital improvements decreased by $878,000 to $250,000. Mr. Hamilton said the amount went down because the township had set aside $1 million in its capital improvement fund last year because it was required by the state to pay 5 percent from its general budget on a $20 million bond ordinance for a new senior center, an expansion of the library and an addition to the community center.
The amount of debt service or repayment of debt will decrease by $188,500 to $4.38 million. Mr. Hamilton said that decrease occurred because the township has refinanced some of its debt.
On the revenue side, deferred charges decreased by $59,500 to $75,000 and uniform construction code fees decreased by $298,000 to $1.7 million.
Interest on investments and deposits increased by $385,703 to $1.14 million and local revenues increased by $420,954 to $1.95 million.
The township plans to use $7 million from its surplus account, $16,000 less than in 2006. It also expects to receive an additional $298,000 in state aid, bringing the total to $3.24 million.

