By: centraljersey.com
ROBBINSVILLE – Mayor Dave Fried presented the Township Council with a draft $20.3 million municipal budget last week that he said has no increase in the local tax rate and restores municipal services cut during last year’s budget crisis.
"It was a tough year, but I am extremely pleased to announce that this budget keeps our tax rate flat for 2011," Mayor Fried told the Township Council on Feb. 24. "There will be no tax increase … the worst is behind us."
The non-union township employees who took furloughs and pay cuts ranging from 5 to 10 percent last year will have their salaries restored if the budget is adopted, Mayor Fried said after the meeting. Municipal offices handling permits, marriage licenses and other services, which are now closed every Friday, will return to being open five days a week after the budget is adopted.
The mayor’s 2011 budget proposal maintains the current municipal tax rate of 52.8 cents per $100 in assessed valuation. The $13.1 million levy – the total amount raised by taxation – is nearly $500,000 under the new 2 percent state cap.
The flat tax rate means the municipal portion of a local property tax bill would be $2,032 for a home assessed at the new township average of $385,000.
The economic picture is a far cry from last year, when the township’s $18.8 million adopted budget carried a 12-cent increase in the municipal tax rate and needed a $2.39 million waiver from the state to exceed what was then a 4 percent cap. The state allowed all but $539,000 of that waiver to be permanent, meaning $1.85 million of the levy increase could remain in future budgets as well.
The township’s financial problems last year were blamed on successful commercial tax appeals, delinquent taxes, and a dwindling surplus that could not make up for the revenue shortfall. Last year, the township had to pay $1.2 million in tax refunds, mostly to large commercial warehouse property owners, but this year the township anticipates that figure will be zero, Mayor Fried said.
"This budget is fiscally sound and promises stability for taxpayers, both homeowners and businesses," Mayor Fried said. "We will end the year with a larger surplus than we had last year."
Township Business Administrator Tim McGough distributed thick binders containing the draft "budget workbook" to the council members at the Feb. 24 meeting, but no public copy was released because the municipal clerk said it is not a public document until the Township Council introduces it at a future meeting. Mr. McGough and Township CFO Debra Baurer made themselves available to answer questions about the mayor’s proposed spending plan.
In response to a question during the public comment portion of the meeting, Ms. Bauer said the 2011 draft budget uses $2,145,000 in surplus to balance the spending plan and anticipates having $622,000 left in the account at year’s end.
Last year’s adopted $18.8 million spending plan used $811,000 in surplus to balance the budget and had $375,000 left at the end of the year, she said Monday.
Robbinsville has received several grants that are reflected in the 2011 draft budget, including $700,604 in federal funds to pay four new firefighters over the next two years and a $250,000 grant for roadwork on Spring Garden Road.
Mayor Fried noted the U.S. Census found that Robbinsville, with a 33 percent population increase in the past decade, is the fastest-growing town in Mercer County. A growing population of 13,642 people places a greater demand on the town for services, and as a result, the township staff has been "doing a lot more with a lot less," Mayor Fried said.
"We’ve been able to stabilize our tax rate even though these have been extremely tough times and we have not had an influx of (commercial) ratables," Mayor Fried said. In fact the township’s overall valuation has declined, he said.
The cost-savings moves cited by the mayor in the draft budget included a switch to a less expensive employee health-care provider, which enables the township to hold medical expenses to a 3 percent increase, significantly below the national 9 percent medical inflation average.
"Our unions have been incredibly fair to work," Mayor Fried said. "There’s a lot of noise out there about bargaining groups right now, and unions … I’ve got to tell you that ours are tough, but they are fair … and they’ve been an absolute pleasure during a really difficult time."
Some cost increases remain beyond the township’s ability to control, however, including a 23 percent increase in pension costs, Mayor Fried said. Pension contribution levels are set by the state, and spending in that area is exempt from the requirements of the 2 percent cap law.
The Township Council will hold its first public workshop meeting on the budget at 9 a.m. Friday, March 4, in the courthouse trailer meeting room.
