By Mary Brienza, Staff Writer
The Township Council decided Tuesday night to table a final vote on the proposed $46.5 million 2011 budget until May 24.
The budget had previously been tabled at both the April 12 and April 26 meetings while the council tries to cut down a possible tax increase.
The budget was tabled this week because the township is negotiating with all the municipal unions, according to township spokesman Ron Schmalz.
It is not clear yet if the negotiations would yield additional savings, but the process is ongoing, officials said.The budget was first proposed at $46.7 million, including an 8-cent per $100 of assessed value increase in the tax rate that would amount to about $160 more in property taxes for the owner of an average township home valued at $190,000, according to township officials.
That number is now down to $46.5 million with about $204,000 in savings through layoffs and attrition, according to Mr. Schmalz. Seven planned layoffs of township employees included in the budget have already taken place, and there are five to seven more employees retiring whose positions will not be filled because of a hiring freeze that has been in place for about six years, Mr. Schmalz said.
The seven positions that were eliminated include three in the finance office, one in the clerk’s office, a legal aid assistant in the township attorney’s office, a clerk in the tax assessor’s office, and a secretary in the social services office, Mr. Schmalz said The main reason for the increase is due to a decrease in the overall value of the municipality by 4.3 percent including the first drop in residential values in more than two decades, according to officials.
Township Manager Matt Watkins said earlier this year, that a large increase in tax appeals led to the drop in the values.
Another factor, according to officials, is a $700,000 increase in the state mandated pension contribution for township employees.
When Mr. Watkins presented the spending plan in March, he noted that the budget is actually spending $1 million less than last year, but that decrease in spending was used up by the increase in the pension payment and other contractual obligations which left the municipality starting the budget process in the red.
One of the changes to the budget took place because of a new state law passed by Governor Chris Christie earlier this year, according to officials. This law gives library funding its own separate line on the tax bill, which takes library funding out of the municipal budget, according to Library director Chris Carbone.

