BY Amber Cox
CHESTERFIELD Residents would face a 1.2-cent tax rate hike if the preliminary 2011 municipal budget introduced unanimously March 9 by the Township Committee becomes final.
An average assessed home of $396,472 will pay $210.13 in taxes at a rate of 5.3 cents per $100. The township went through a reassessment this year. Last year’s average assessed home was valued at $449,400 with a tax rate of 4.1 cents per $100. Residents will see an increase of $26 in taxes because of the reassessment and tax rate increase.
The committee also introduced an ordinance to exceed the municipal budget appropriations and establish a CAP bank for $77,019.68. The Local Government CAP law “provides that in the preparation of its annual budget, shall limit any increase in said budget to 2 percent unless authorized by ordinance to increase it to 3.5 percent over the previous year’s final appropriations,” according to the introduced ordinance.
The public hearing for the ordinance will be held March 24.
Mayor Lawrence Durr said the reason for the cap proposal is that general costs are up, including health insurance and pension costs.
”We’re a growing community and we have grown faster than the 2 percent CAP would allow us to grow,” he said.
Mayor Durr said the committee decided not to include the CAP bank as a separate question in the elections and are doing it through ordinance and the local finance board to ask for approvals to do it. The township is anticipating a $4.3 million budget with a tax levy of $383,866. The local surplus is decreasing from $2.79 million to $2.34 million for 2011.
Operating expenses, which includes salaries and wages, will total $2.8 million.
There are still 32 employees for the township. The number is not changing from last year.
Sewer utility expenses will stay at $91 per quarter for those residents utilizing the sewer services of the township. Total appropriations for the sewer utility budget is $593,650 an increase of $7,100 from last year.

