EDISON — Mayor Thomas Lankey made the case for a 3.5 percent tax increase at the June 24 Township Council meeting.
With this budget, Lankey said during his presentation at the public hearing last week, homes assessed at the township’s average of $177,300 would see an annual increase of about $62 for the municipal portion of their tax bills.
The township plans to generate $87.8 million through taxes, an increase of $3 million from last year. Last year, residents saw a 9 percent increase, which translated to about $160 on the average assessed home.
Officials said after the budget’s introduction last month that they were happy not to be in the same fiscal situation as they were in last year.
Lankey said at the hearing that a few elements are working in the township’s favor — namely, the ability to keep debt and tax appeals down. Edison’s exposure has decreased from $32 million last year to $21 million this year, Lankey said, adding that he thinks the appeals have generally bottomed out.
“That is probably the best news that we’re going to see, at least at this point in time,” he said.
The mayor balanced that news, however, with challenges impacting not only the township, but the entire state.
“We are facing a revenue problem,” he said, explaining that in Edison, part of that revenue reduction has come from the state’s discontinuation of the red-light camera program.
In addition, the township has not been able to sell any liquor licenses this year, Lankey said. He also pointed to township employee healthcare costs as a large contributor to the tax increase.
After reviewing the numbers with the public, Lankey spoke about his goals for the township and outlined 12 priorities for the year — a list topped by maintaining and enhancing services, staffing appropriately and managing infrastructure.
In addressing the staffing issue, Lankey said the township plans to hire eight additional police officers by the end of the year, as he feels the force is still understaffed.
As for other priorities, the mayor said the township is dealing with a lot of unresolved contract issues, which is a variable when it comes to projecting expenses. Furthermore, he said Edison is looking to reduce legal expenses this year.
Lankey said he is optimistic about the direction in which Edison is heading, although from a financial perspective, it presents challenges.
“We need to maintain our quality of life. We need to maintain our level of service. We need to also keep taxes at an affordable level for our residents.
“I think this budget and these initiatives and the things that we’ve done have made us better than we were a year ago. The key is to continue that, to get better each year,” he said.
In response to residents’ questions on the budget, Lankey gave some additional details. He clarified that next year, in regards to the cap bank, the township would lose the ability to spend $2.7 million from 2012, but will pick up more than $1 million. He explained that the amount in the cap bank represents an ability to spend, not actual cash in the bank.
In other words, if a municipality’s tax levy comes in below the state-mandated 2 percent tax levy cap, the amount by which it fell below that 2 percent can be banked for the future.
Sam Lamm asked if the township was planning to lay fiber optic lines before doing some of the planned repaving as part of its infrastructure initiative. He said he had contacted the council in the past about the issue, but did not get a response.
Officials said there were no pending plans to do so, and did not anticipate a provider such as Verizon coming in to do any work.
Tom McGuire questioned whether this was the right time to add staff, and wanted to know why the township wasn’t looking at the opportunities to share services.
“People are struggling out there,” he said.
Officials did not comment on Lankey’s presentation at the meeting.