By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
Township property owners are in line for a five-cent increase in the municipal property tax rate for 2013, under a proposed $42.9 million municipal budget unveiled before Township Council Tuesday night.
The budget, which would hike the municipal property tax rate from 89 cents per $100 of assessed value to 94 cents, means the owner of a house assessed at the township average of $160,262 would pay $80.13 more in municipal property taxes for 2013. There is an additional $25 annual bulk trash fee, which will raise about $160,000.
The amount to be raised by taxation which represents 55 percent of revenue to support the proposed budget is $23.5 million, which is an increase of $1 million, Municipal Manager Richard Krawczun said. That number is $105,404 below the statutory 2-percent levy cap on municipal tax rate increases.
A portion of the increase in the municipal property tax rate is due to a decline the overall property tax base from 2012 to 2013, Mr. Krawczun said. The tax base has declined by $27 million, which resulted in a loss of $254,953 in property tax revenue. The taxable value of all property in Lawrence is $2.5 billion.
Mr. Krawczun also noted that “the recommended budget reflects a decrease in 2013 appropriations from 2012 appropriations (by) $190,000. This point is raised to emphasize that the increase in taxation is not caused by increases in spending, but a decrease in surplus as revenue combined with a loss in revenue due to a decline in net taxable value.”
The proposed budget also calls for using $3.1 million in surplus funds as a revenue source. It is $1.2 million less than the amount of surplus funds used in the 2012 budget and $2.6 million less than the amount used in 2010. Anticipated surplus is 7 percent of total revenues, which is a 2.5-percent decrease from 2012, he said.
Turning to the spending side of the proposed budget, Mr. Krawczun said salaries would decline by $1.1 million because of the balance of savings from layoffs that occurred in 2012, privatization of the Police Department 911 dispatchers, and retirements. There are no proposed layoffs in the 2013 budget, he said.
The purchasing assistant position has been reduced from full-time to part-time status. The deputy chief of police, the Planning Department’s executive assistant position, per diem firefighters and a park maintenance worker position have all been eliminated in the 2013 budget.
There is an increase of $539,000 in “Police Dispatching Other Expenses,” which accounts for the switch from municipal Police Department 911 dispatchers to an outside company. The money will be used to pay for the contract for 2013.
Mr. Krawczun said that “identical to private businesses, Lawrence Township is doing more with less.”
There are fewer resources and fewer employees, he said. There were 195 full time and 17 part-time employees in 2008, and 163 full time and 18 part-time employees in 2012.
”The 2013 budget has been dissected, publicly discussed, analyzed, prodded and probed,” he said. “The examination of the 2013 municipal budget began last May, immediately after the adoption of the 2012 budget.”
The reason for the early start was the full knowledge of the pending impacts from the negative influences on the economy, appeals of tax assessments and the statutory mandates placed upon the municipality and its budget, he said.
”Contrary to some opinions, the budget process for the 2013 budget (and prior budgets) has not been reactionary,” Mr. Krawczun said. “It has been proactive. Absent that proactive response, the results would have been significantly different.”
