In a recent Holmdel Township newsletter, Republican Mayor Patrick Impreveduto discussed the Township Committee’s goal of “working toward a point of balanced, sustainable revenues and operations.”
The column explained the township’s ability to “maintain one of the lowest tax rates in Monmouth County.” Less than a week later, I received my tax bill in the mail. It showed a whopping municipal tax increase of more than 10 percent. This is the only tax that the Township Committee can control. All other taxes (school, county, open space) were flat or had an approximately 1 percent increase.
This discrepancy between the mayor’s words and my tax bill causes one to wonder whether the Republican-controlled Township Committee really kept a hold on taxes for the past few years. Was their annual ritual of depleting the sewer fund and pool club surpluses a better practice than actually cutting spending? Did they have forward-thinking methods that would create a sustainable budget for our town or did they just kick the can down the road to eventual large tax increases?
I guess all we need to do is look at our current tax bill to determine the answer. Larry Fink was the lone voice on the Township Committee voting against the one-time “fixes.” Unfortunately, Larry will be leaving the committee this year, but Holmdel residents have a chance to keep the committee fiscally responsible by voting for the two candidates endorsed by Larry: namely, Mark Levinson and Larry Luttrell.
Henry Bauer
Holmdel