SEA BRIGHT — The Borough Council voted unanimously to adopt an amended 2014 budget that will increase taxes and tap surplus to make up an anticipated shortfall of nearly $800,000.
Despite applying for $1.78 million in federal grants, the borough received just over $1 million in Essential Services Grant funding, which is administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development through the Community Development Block Grant program.
Michael Bascom, finance director for Sea Bright, said the borough did not qualify for the $1.78 million that would have been essential to the borough’s budget. Instead, the borough received $1.002 million, the maximum for which Sea Bright qualified.
“As you know, we had applied for what we felt was the maximum based upon what was received in previous years,” he said. “Unfortunately, that was the maximum you could apply for, but the maximum you would be eligible for was a lesser number.
To balance the budget, officials increased the tax levy by $150,000 and allocated $420,000 from surplus, along with making some cuts, Bascom said.
“We are OK with the surplus being utilized because we did not use surplus in last year’s budget at all. We had $1.85 million in surplus, so we had enough to cover it,” he said.
The Essential Services Grant is designed to fund a variety of services, including police and public works salaries and solid waste disposal for disaster-impacted communities.
The amendment to the budget also cuts several appropriations, including legal services, landfill disposal, and buildings and grounds.
The $9 million total budget represents an increase over last year’s $7.6 million spending plan. The tab would increase the tax levy from last year’s $3.4 million to $3.7 million.
The municipal tax rate will now increase by 3 cents to 80.8 cents per $100 of assessed valuation.
The owner of property assessed at the borough average of $368,400 could expect to pay $2,977 in municipal taxes this year, or $122 more than last year’s bill.
However, since the grant was funded at a lower rate than had been anticipated, the borough will use the entire $1 million from the grant for police salaries and wages.
A member of the audience at the council meeting asked why the borough did not receive all the funds for which it applied.
“The initial application process was based upon the total amount of Community Disaster Loans and Essential Services Grant that you received last year. You are allowed to apply for up to 75 percent of that number,” Bascom said.
“So, we applied for the maximum. … You can only be eligible for funds you can prove are a shortfall as a result of the storm. We can only prove $1.050 million, and then we get 90 percent of that.”
Bascom previously said the borough received a number of smaller grants that would help offset some of the lost grant revenues, such as a $60,000 to process construction and zoning applications to assist in the recovery
He said he expects funding from the Essential Services Grant to continue for at least the next two years, at which point he hopes the borough can become self-sustaining once more.