HILLSBOROUGH: Budget asks for 1.4-cent hike in local tax rate

By Gene Robbins, Staff Writer
   Elected officials are proposing a 2014 budget that asks for about $4 a month more in taxes to pay for local government.
   The $27.87 million spending plan is affected by snow removal and road repair expenses, but stays under the state-mandated cap on increases without taking any of the possible exemptions.
   Township Committee members hailed the proposal as continuation of wizened fiscal management, exemplified in a recent upgrade in the township’s credit rating by the independent Standard & Poors agency.
   The total amount of spending is less than 2008, said Mayor Doug Tomson.
   CFO Nancy Costa cited increases in costs for snow removal from the pounding winter ($319,000), salary and wages ($165,000) and the last $267,000 payment on a 2002 $3.4 million bond that largely paid for expansion of the township library.
   The tax rate for municipal purposes would rise 1.4 cents per $100 assessed value to 32.7 cents for each $100 of the assessed value of a property. That would mean an additional $14 for each $100,000 of value, or $49 more on a $350,000 property, for example.
   The Township Committee also took steps to buy equipment to help repave roads damaged during the winter. It proposes to bond for $1.425 million for a six-wheel dump truck with snowplow and spreader, a subcompact tractor with snow attachments and a two- to four-ton trailer asphalt heater and recycler.
   Specific road repaving projects were not announced.
   Those items are in addition to $265,295 in capital items that include replacement of a transportation bus for senior citizens at $60,000, sidewalk replacements ($75,000), replacement of obsolete rescue tools at $88,895 and a bullet-resistant protective barrier for the counter of the finance department ($20,000) and electronic door lock replacement parts ($20,000) and a replacement defibrillator for the police department at $1,400.
   The bond, appropriation for capital items and the budget will all be up for public comment and vote for adoption at the May 27 committee meeting.
   Public safety takes the largest chunk (29 percent) of the budget, with insurance at 16 percent and public works at 14 percent.
   The township will have 152 full-time (one less than 2013) and 29 part-time employees in 2014. Police have the most at 67, with 36 in the DPW, said Ms. Costa. There are 78 other white-collar employees. The DPW figure includes all employees there, including supervisors, secretary, etc., and the figure for police embraces clerical staff, dispatchers, sworn officers and crossing guards in addition to uniformed personnel.
   The township deals with four collective bargaining units: DPW, white collar, PBA and police dispatchers. All will receive about a 2 percent raise in 2014.
   While salary and wage line items increased in the 2014 budget, personnel moves in 2013 have resulted in savings because new hires came in at a lower pay scale, particularly in the planning and social services area, said Ms. Costa.