By: Matt Chiappardi
EAST WINDSOR The expected local tax hike for township residents is now official.
The Township Council on Tuesday unanimously approved a 2007 budget of $19.85 million that carries a 3-cent rate increase in municipal taxes, bringing the local tax rate to 51 cents per $100 of assessed valuation.
A homeowner assessed at the township average of $132,500 would receive a bill of $677, up about $41 from last year.
This year’s budget represents an increase of about 5 percent over the $18.9 million one approved last year, and benefits from a $91,252 increase in state aid, the first one in five years.
Salaries and wages comprise the largest line item expenditures with a total of about $9 million, an increase of $450,000 from last year. Police salaries and wages comprise $300,000 of that increase, according to Mayor Janice Mironov, rising to a total of about $5 million.
Mayor Mironov said last week that the budget anticipates salary increases for police officers who have been working without a contract for 19 months. That was done because of the likely event of a settlement within the fiscal year.
The budget also calls for nearly $3.5 million for insurance. The cost of insurance has risen about $70,000 from last year, but the budget appropriation remains flat because it was overbudgeted by that same amount in 2006, the mayor said. State-mandated pension appropriations rose $334,647 this year to $853,267.
The township’s surplus will remain at $4.2 million.
"In light of all the pressures on local governments, and with no increases in state aid over the past five years, with the exception of a minor increase for 2007, and the rising cost of wages and pensions, this is a conservative and fiscally responsible budget that continues to provide the residents with all their services and programs with an extremely modest increase in the municipal portion of the tax rate," Mayor Mironov said Thursday.

