Township Committee scheduled to formally introduce spending plan April 13
By John Tredrea, Staff Writer
A proposed 2009 Hopewell Township budget would bring no municipal tax rate increase over last year, Chief Financial Officer Elaine Cruikshank Borges said Tuesday.
The Township Committee is scheduled to formally introduce a township spending plan at its April 13 meeting.
An adoption vote would take place in May after a public hearing.
Under the current form of the budget, reviewed by the Township Committee at a special meeting Monday, the municipal tax rate for 2009 would be 27 cents per $100 of assessed property value, same as last year. This means a resident with a house assessed at the township average of $545,000 would pay $1,471 in 2009, as he or she did last year.
The proposed overall township tax levy of $12.1 million is down about $177,000 from last year, Ms. Borges said.
The proposed total budget for 2009 is $19.8 million, up $189,000 over 2008.
Miscellaneous one-time sources of revenue helped keep the budget flat enough to avoid the need for any tax increase, Ms. Borges said.
She said expenses for all township departments are up a combined $32,000 in the proposed budget.