David Kilby, Managing Editor
JAMESBURG — In order to make up for loss in other revenues, Jamesburg may raise taxes 3.82 percent this year, but even with that increase, it’s still averaging under 2 percent in tax increases over the past three years.
The total proposed budget is $4,998,124 with $3,601,164 to be raised by taxation. The tax rate would be $1.50, a 5.8 cent increase from last year. A house assessed at the average of $124,300 would pay $1,864.50 in municipal taxes this year, about $56 more than last year.
The budget would include $1,662,200 for police, $890,000 for sewer, 624,919 for insurance, $578,773 for pensions, social security and unemployment, $221,000 for shared services, $288,770 for the reserve for uncollected taxes and $213,000 for sanitation.
The budget had no tax increase last year so the borough was able to bank its 2 percent allowable cap increase, said Denise Jawidzik, business administrator.
The borough still has $104,426 in its cap bank it’s not using this year, and over the past three years, the borough has averaged a 1.94 increase per year.
”The total budget was actually cut by $56,000,” she said, “however, we lost $310,000 in surplus, which could not totally be overcome with budget cuts and other revenue increases.”
The borough revenue includes $280,000 from surplus, less than half of last year’s amount. Ms. Jawidzik has found other sources of revenue and some areas to save money, but the impact is minimal.
In June 2010, the borough joined a co-op for the aggregate purchase of electricity, and in 2011, energy efficient equipment was installed in all municipal buildings. These efforts reduced electric and street light appropriations by $15,000, Ms. Jawidzik said.
The borough also received $29,000 in cable franchise fees and $9,000 from FEMA reimbursements. An additional $84,000 in receipts is expected from delinquent taxes.
A public hearing and vote on adoption is set for May 16.

