By MICHAEL BENAVIDES
Staff Writer
MIDDLETOWN — Members of the Middletown Township Committee will hold a public hearing at 8 p.m. on April 17 on the preliminary 2017 municipal budget.
The hearing will be held in the township’s municipal building, main meeting room, 1 Kings Highway, Middletown. The meeting will be open to the public.
Taxes will decrease in the township because of savings in winter storm related costs, shared services agreements with other towns and stable fuel prices, township officials said. Costs for insurance, primarily health insurance, increased by $320,000, or 3.12 percent, officials said.
According to the 2017 municipal user friendly budget, the actual municipal tax levy for the current year will be $47,503.345.43. The budget notes that the total tax levy for 2016 was $47,664,804.49. According to the budget, the municipal purpose tax levy for 2017 saw a decrease of $161,459.06.
According to the 2017 budget, the total amount to be raised by taxes for the current year will be $228,238,613.95. The budget also states that the budget appropriations before reserve for uncollected taxes for 2017 will be $72,381,741.89.
According to the budget presentation to the township committee on March 20, the proposed tax rate for 2017 will be an estimated $.443 per $100 of assessed valuation. According to the presentation, the tax rate in 2016 was $.459.
According to the budget presentation, the average assessed value of a home in the township in 2016 was $402,547. The budget presentation states that the home value in 2017 is $414,963.
The anticipated surplus for the 2017 proposed budget will be $5,500,00. The municipal debt service for the 2017 preliminary budget is projected to be $7,372,987.
The budget presentation also notes that the state aid for the preliminary 2017 preliminary budget will be $6,052,688.
The township portion of the budget makes up 21 percent of an average property tax bill in Middletown. The remaining portion relates to school and county taxes.