MILLSTONE – Mayor Nancy Grbelja accused another committee member of trying to spin tax numbers.
The mayor lobbed the allegation at Township Committeeman Elias Abilheira at the Oct. 17 Township Committee meeting and asked him to provide the governing body with the figures he was citing that evening.
Abilheira alleged that the township would deplete its $1 million surplus this year based on the amount of debt it has issued. He also alleged that the 9-cent tax rate could more than triple to 30 cents by 2010.
Deputy Mayor Robert Kinsey challenged Abilheira and asked for an analysis of how he reached the 30-cent figure.
Abilheira alleged that the tax rate would triple due to small annual budget increases of $250,000 to $300,000 and debt service increases through the Monmouth County Improvement Authority (MCIA). The Township Committee passed an ordinance July 18 to finance the acquisition of equipment through the MCIA.
Kinsey said residents must note the difference between debt and debt service. He said the MCIA bond was fully priced out at the 9-cent tax rate.
“The tax rate should not change because the debt is fully priced,” he said.
Kinsey questioned Abilheira’s allegation of a “several hundred thousand dollar” increase in debt service.
“Rather than have you throw them at the dais, it would be nice to see the numbers,” he said.
Grbelja said she would like to see Abilheira’s numbers on paper.
Abilheira said he has “rough numbers.”
Grbelja said that neither Township Auditor Bill Antonides nor Chief Financial Officer Annette Murphy are raising red flags or predicting gloom and doom. She said that when Abilheira asked Antonides if the tax rate would be 30 cents in 2010, Antonides replied that he did not foresee that happening.
Grbelja noted that two or three years ago, some residents claimed that the tax rate would be 27 cents this year with numbers that just “came out of nowhere.”
Abilheira said the auditor should do a fiveyear analysis based on spending and borrowing to determine the impact on the surplus.
At the April 15 budget meeting, Antonides had recommended that the Township Committee put together a five-year plan for its surplus utilization.
Grbelja said she would like the analysis done during the next budget process.
Kinsey said that the town has not yet done such an analysis because it didn’t have “good, solid numbers” coming out of the Department of Public Works.
“We’re getting in a better position each year to put long-term projections on the budgeting process,” he said. “Budgets are a snapshot in time. The projection that the tax rate would triple in three years was way overblown.”
At the May 16 meeting, Antonides said that he represents a number of communities and that Millstone’s percentage of increased spending in its 2007-08 budget – which is less than 2 percent – is the lowest increase he has seen this year.