ROCKY HILL: Loss of state aid forcing boro tax hike

By Kristine Snodgrass, Staff Writer
   ROCKY HILL — The loss of municipal aid from the state is continuing to put the squeeze on the borough of Rocky Hill, driving up taxes for its residents, according to Mayor Ed Zimmerman.
   With school taxes are added in, the average homeowner will see a jump of about $600, he said.
   The tax rate in Rocky Hill is set to increase by 3.8 percent, just under the 4 percent cap, he said. For the average $300,000 assessed home, this will translate to a $78 increase, according to a budget that will be introduced at the Borough Council’s meeting at 7:30 p.m. April 6.
   It is an increase of 2.6 cents per $100 in assessed value, he said, to bring the total to 71.6 cents, he said. The borough increase was higher than expected due to the drop in state aid to the borough, he said. Before municipal aid figures were released, the increase was expected to be about 3.3 percent, he said. Aid decreased by 2.5 percent overall, or $2,517, to just under $100,000. The borough’s budget is about $1 million. However, that’s not the whole story, he said.
   ”We actually went down 25 percent in discretionary aid,” he said.
   The aid is made up of two figures: Consolidated Municipal Property Tax Relief, and Total Energy Tax Receipts Distribution. The latter increased by $4,334, while the former decreased by $6,851.
   The state is required by statute to provide Total Energy Tax Receipts Distribution funding, he said, based on a predetermined formula. So the aid that the state could control actually decreased much more than 2.5 percent, he said.
   ”There’s a little frustration in that the numbers are a little disingenuous,” he said.
   The decreased strained a budget was already stretched by the purchase of a new fire engine for the borough, he said. However, the Borough Council does not plan take advantage of its pension deferral amount of $2,921, he said.
   School taxes will also increase dramatically for residents, he said, even though the school budget has remained about flat over last year. The borough pays tuition to Montgomery Township schools to send its children to school, he said, according to a state-created formula.
   ”As their budget goes up, our cost goes up,” he said.
   Last year, school taxes went up even more, by 25 cents compared to 17.4 cents this year. The increases are a result of a jump last year in school-age children in the borough, he said.
   ”From what I understand, it should level off this year,” he said.
   Mayor Zimmerman said he didn’t think the tax increases would make his residents favor the idea of consolidation with Montgomery Township.
   ”Our municipal tax is still lower, and we still provide a lot more services because we are more frugal in what we spend,” he said.
   The borough outsources 80 percent of its services, he said, and employs just 12 part-time employees. When things need done, such as painting the courtroom, they are often done by the mayor himself or council members, he said, keeping the borough’s costs down.
   ”Consolidation really wouldn’t do anything for us but decrease services or increase taxes,” he said. “It doesn’t make sense in our case.”