By John Tredrea, Staff Writer
A proposed 2011 Hopewell Township budget that would bring a small increase in the municipal tax rate was introduced by the Township Committee March 28.
Adoption of the $20.5 million spending plan would increase the rate 1.6 cents per $100 of assessed property value, to 28.6 cents.
For the owner of a property assessed at $500,000, which is close to the township average, that would mean $80 more in municipal taxes than in 2010.
A public hearing and adoption vote on the budget is scheduled for the committee’s April 25 meeting.
Voting in favor of introducing the budget were Mayor Jim Burd, Deputy Mayor Michael Markulec and Committeewoman Kim Johnson, all Republicans. Democrat Vanessa Sandom voted no. John Murphy, also a Democrat, was absent.
”We pared it down to the nth degree,” Mayor Burd said Monday. “We’ve been working on the budget since October. We wanted to cut it to the quick as much as possible and at the same time continue to deliver essential services. We don’t take imposing a tax-rate increase lightly.”
The mayor noted that property devaluations during the past few years have cost the township revenue.
”We should not be raising taxes in this fragile economy. It is our responsibility to have exhaustively explored the many alternatives to raising taxes, and in my opinion, we did not do that,” said Committeewoman Sandom.

