COLTS NECK — The Township Committee has adopted a budget for 2014 that is slated to impose a modest tax increase on property owners.
The governing body adopted the $11.68 million spending plan, which carries a local tax levy of $6.45 million, at its April 30 meeting. In 2013, the budget totaled nearly $11.05 million, with a tax levy of $6.19 million, Mayor Russell Macnow said.
Township officials expect the municipal tax rate to increase from 20.3 cents in 2013 to 21.4 cents in 2014, he said.
The increase in the tax rate means the owner of a home assessed at the township average of $826,602 will pay about $1,769 in municipal taxes in 2014. That is an increase of $91 above the amount that individual paid in 2013.
Most people will pay more or less in municipal property taxes, depending on the assessed value of their home. In Colts Neck, the municipal portion of the property tax bill consumes 13.4 percent, with nearly 68 percent slated for the Colts Neck K-8 School District and the Freehold Regional High School Districts, and 18.61 percent for Monmouth County, Macnow said.
Colts Neck’s municipal budget is $161,306 under the state-mandated tax levy cap and $109,063 under the appropriations cap, he said.
State aid is expected to remain at $1.98 million, according to the township.
The township will collect $362,380 in dedicated open space taxes. That figure is included in the total tax levy, Macnow said.
Colts Neck officials did not defer school taxes to offset the municipal tax rate, he said.
The committee amended the budget to use $1.17 million in surplus funds to support the budget. Township officials initially planned to use $1.25 million in surplus funds, but the state directed them to reconcile the difference between the two figures through a larger amount of revenue collected from delinquent taxes, according to municipal documents.
The budget contains no resources for new or additional employees. On average, full-time employees will receive a salary increase of 2 percent, Macnow said.
Also at the April 30 meeting, the governing body introduced an ordinance that would fund nearly $300,000 in capital projects this year.
The money, according to the ordinance, is currently available in Colts Neck’s capital improvement fund.
The upgrades would span many different areas of the municipality, from $30,000 for recreation field improvements to $38,800 for road improvements. Nearly $108,000 would be spent on equipment for the police department, including vehicles, radios, radar units and computers, according to the ordinance.
Another $59,000 is earmarked for public works equipment, according to the township.
The ordinance is scheduled for adoption at the committee’s 7:30 p.m. May 14 meeting at Town Hall, following a public hearing.