UPPER FREEHOLD: Leaner municipal budget eyed for 2012

By Joanne Degnan, Managing Editor
   UPPER FREEHOLD — The Township Committee introduced a $5 million municipal budget March 1 that spends less, but also would increase the local tax rate from 16.6 cents to 18.5 cents per $100 in assessed value.
   The impact on property tax bills depends how individual homeowners fared after the townshipwide reassessment of all properties last year. In general, residents whose 2012 property assessments are the same or lower than their 2011 assessments will not see a significant increase in municipal taxes.
   In 2011, the average home was assessed at $495,00 and paid $822 in municipal taxes under the 16.6-cent tax rate, according to Township Administrator Dianne Kelly.
   In 2012, the average assessment has dropped to $447,200 so even with a 1.9-cent increase in the tax rate, the owner of the average assessed home will pay about $827 in municipal taxes, a $5 increase. The $447,200 assessed value figure for 2012 was provided by the tax assessor’s office on Tuesday.
   The Township Committee introduced the 2012 budget by a 5-0 vote without any discussion. The public hearing and final adoption vote is scheduled for 7 p.m. April 5 in the municipal building.
   The $5,044,000 municipal budget spends $60,590 less than the current $5,104,590 budget, a decrease of 1 percent. Ms. Kelly said after the meeting that the spending plan complies with all state cap requirements.
   The 2012 budget would use $1.22 million of the $1.95 million surplus that was on hand Dec. 31, 2011, leaving a remaining surplus of $729,125.
   Most expenditures are down in 2012 with the exception of the municipal accounts for legal services (up 18 percent from $91,000 to $107,500); public buildings and grounds (up 37 percent from $14,750 to $20,250); and utilities and bulk purchases (up 2 percent from $122,500 to $125,500).
   Spending reductions have been made in all other accounts, including salaries, health benefits, insurance, trash collection and pension contributions.
   The line item for total municipal salaries and wages declined by $56,130 from $1,036,200 in 2011 to $980,000 in 2012, which is a 5 percent decrease. The total salaries and wages category for paid firefighters appears as a separate line item and will decline by $1,500 in 2012 from $204,500 to $203,000, a 1 percent decrease.
   The township’s debt service costs will increase 1 percent from $1,505,420 in 2011 to $1,527,983 in 2012. The township’s net debt expressed as a percentage of equalized valuation will increase from 1.35 percent to 1.45 percent.
   The budget proposes spending $134,000 on capital improvement projects, including purchases of fire protection equipment and a new Public Works pickup truck to replace the one totaled in an accident during Hurricane Irene last August.
   The online auction of old municipal equipment earlier this year raised $24,000 that is being used toward the purchase of the new pickup truck.
   In a related action, the Township Committee voted 5-0 on March 1 to buy the truck for $24,695 from a Flemington auto dealer who is an authorized vendor under the state of New Jersey Cooperative Purchasing Program.