HELMETTA — The newly adopted municipal budget for 2014 represents an increase of $163,298 over last year’s tab.
The increase was driven mostly by employee salaries and benefits, according to Herb Massa, borough administrator.
“We’re in the fourth year of a union contract witha2percentannualincrement,and health insurance has gone up,” Massa said.
The budget, adopted April 30 by the Borough Council, comes in at $2.44 million. The package is supported by a tax levy of $1.24 million — an increase of more than $20,000 over last year.
The tax rate increased by slightly more than 1 cent per $100 of assessed valuation. The owner of a home assessed at the borough average of $205,410 can expect to pay $1,363 in municipal taxes — $24 more than in 2013.
State aid to the borough remains flat at $142,271 in 2014. An additional $66,400 in surplus funds was used to balance the budget, making the total surplus fund allocation $312,300.
The municipality hired new Police Director Robert Manney as a full-time employee in March to replace the former part-time director, Gregory Bennett. The department is looking to add more police, Massa said.
“Right now, we’re looking to put an additional Special II officer on with Director Manney. He’s looking at candidates right now. Also, we have a vacancy on the Police Department — we had a police officer leave to go to Bound Brook last year and we still have that vacancy on the books. As we move along, the director will be making recommendations on filling that position,” he said.
The Helmetta Police Department is staffed by two sergeants, three patrolmen, and three Special II officers who are paid hourly and called upon as needed, he added.
The borough plans to complete a number of small-scale capital improvements to the police station, Massa said.
“We plan on getting the place cleaned up and perhaps doing some minor renovations so that we’re able to house evidence in a better way and have better record keeping. … We’re going to get the place painted and otherwise up to date,” he said.
The borough plans to subsidize flooring improvements to the Helmetta Regional Animal Shelter and carry out heating and ventilation work at the building.
In the wake of severe flooding that occurred on April 30, Massa said borough officials are looking to fund a trailer setup for emergency management purposes.
“We’ll have horses and signs and things like that so we can block off roads when we need to,” he said.
Township officials are looking forward to the repurposing of the borough’s iconic snuff mill, Mayor Nancy Martin said.
The building and property will be converted into 200 market-rate apartments, an 8,000-square-foot community center, a community swimming pool with a cabana and 378 parking spaces.
Construction by Kaplan Developers is underway, Massa said.
“If you go over there, you’ll see the steel work going on and windows going in. I guess it’s a slow process because they’re rehabbing such an old building — I think it was built in the 1880s — but the project is moving along,” he said.
According to the business administrator, tenants could begin moving into the complex within 18 months.