ROBBINSVILLE: Tax rate stable

By Joanne Degnan, Staff Writer
   ROBBINSVILLE — The Township Council has adopted a $20.3 million budget for 2011 that contains no increase in the municipal tax rate.
   The budget, which was approved April 28, has a $13.1 million levy that holds the municipal tax rate to 52.8 cents per $100 in assessed valuation, the same rate as it was in 2010.
   A home assessed at the new township-wide average of $385,000 would pay $2,032 a year in municipal taxes.
   The proposed municipal levy, which is the total amount that would be raised through taxation, is $488,965 less than the increase allowable under the state’s new 2 percent cap law.
   The furloughing of nonunion employees last year, which saved about $62,000 in salaries and required the closure of township offices Fridays, ended shortly after the budget was introduced March 24. Staff members who took pay cuts in return for reduced work hours in 2010 have had their salaries restored.
   Last year, Robbinsville’s budget was devastated by commercial tax appeals, which led to a 12-cent increase in the tax rate in 2010. The township needed a $2.39 million cap waiver from the state to allow it to exceed what was then a 4 percent cap, and municipal property taxes increased 30 percent.
   At last week’s public hearing on the budget, Spring Garden Road resident John Ruch alluded to last year’s crisis when he questioned whether the township might be spending at a level now that could lead to potential problems in 2012.
   ”Last year, you had to go for cap relief because of the (tax) appeals, and because you had to repay so much in taxes, your surplus dropped very low,” Mr. Ruch told the Township Council. “When you were able to raise your levy rate in 2010, you were able to bring that surplus back up quite a bit; you were able to put over $1 million back into the surplus.
   ”I guess I’m a little disappointed this year that given that kind of savings potential, the township wasn’t able to maintain spending a little bit lower and possibly give back $500,000 of that amount. It seems like that savings potential got absorbed throughout this budget.”
   Council members Rich Levesque and David Boyne pointed out the budget has put aside $500,000 in a separate account for property tax appeals, plus $1.5 million for uncollected taxes. The township anticipates that not all of this money will have to be actually spent, and a large portion of it will be available for next year’s budget.
   Mayor Dave Fried, participating in the meeting via conference call, said the town was proceeding with caution.
   ”One of the things that I was concerned about when doing this budget was making sure that we weren’t wrong again,” Mayor Fried said. “The residents did bear with us in the appeal process last year so the last thing I wanted to do was give our residents a surprise.
   ”We’re still using a significant amount of surplus this year, and we need to be sure that we’re going to be able, as we move forward, to wean ourselves off surplus.”
   He added, “It’s an extremely conservative budget, but the other side of the coin is when you’re using $2 million in surplus, you have to be very careful that you’re going to be OK next year, especially knowing that we now have a 2 percent cap.”
   Robbinsville’s 2011 budget reflects several large grants, including $250,000 for repairs to Spring Garden Road, a $700,604 federal grant that pays the salaries of new firefighters and $51,228 in federal money for firefighting equipment.
   The budget also provides funds for a number of capital improvement projects, including $103,000 for the demolition of the old municipal building on Route 130, which has been abandoned since a 2005 flood. The building, which was constructed in 1923, has widespread mold on walls and doors.
   Township officials say there has been no interest in the property with the 88-year-old building there in its current mold-infested condition.
   The budget documents also list a $1.6 million capital improvement project to construct sewer lines for houses with failing septic systems on Buckley Lane and nearby Robbinsville-Edinburg Road.