By Andrew Martins, Managing Editor
Homeowners in Hopewell Township should expect to see an increase in their annual tax bills, as the governing body recently voted to approve its $23.4 million spending plan for 2017., All four Democrats on the committee, Vanessa Sandom, Kristin McLaughlin, Mayor Kevin Kuchinski and Deputy Mayor Julie Blake voted in favor of the budget, which carries an approximately $14.7 million levy, during the April 24 meeting. That evening’s sole dissenting vote on the measure came from Republican Committeeman John Hart., The newly approved budget marks a 4.6 percent increase from the $22.3 million budget for 2016, as well as an increase in its tax levy from the $14.3 million figure last year., Township CFO Elaine Cruickshank-Borges said the township was going to be more reliant on the tax levy due to a number of extenuating circumstances., “Interest rates are beginning to trend upward, but not back to the rates that we had seen in previous years – and that’s just market trend,” she said. “Delinquent tax revenue is declining, as taxpayers recover personally and fewer properties go into tax sale.”, The annual tax rate will also see an increase to 0.3698 cents per $100 of assessed value compared to the 2016 figure of 0.364 cents per $100 of assessed value., Keeping those figures in mind, the owner of a home valued at the 2016 average assessment of $465,633 paid roughly $1,695 in municipal taxes. If that same home was then assessed at this year’s average assessment of $464,800, the property owner can expect to pay approximately $1,719. The difference in that circumstance would be a $24 increase., How the tax rate affects a homeowner’s tax bill each year depends largely on the individual assessment of their property. The municipal budget does not include county or school taxes., According to township officials, there are 7,308 taxable properties in Hopewell Township as of Oct. 1, 2016. The total assessed value of all those properties combined is about $3.97 billion., During the budget presentation, officials said a major item on 2017 budget was the township’s debt service, which totals $5.2 million and a roughly 1.8 percent decrease from last year., According to officials, the total debt for Hopewell Township is approximately $68.4 million and is comprised of general obligation debt, affordable housing, open space and water and sewer., “Debt service is eating up an increasing amount of our total budget,” Mayor Kevin Kuchinski said. “For context, that debt service and those costs are almost as much as we spent on our public works department and police department combined.”, In the 2017 budget, the township will repay $3.5 million of that debt, plus $1.7 million in interest costs., Cruickshank-Borges said the debt service saw a decrease this year thanks to steps taken by the governing body., “In addition, future debt service was reduced by purchasing 1.5 million in capital items from surplus, eliminating future funding for these items,” she said. “This direct purchase of items increased the budget by $1.5 million, but did not impact the tax levy.”, Other large line items in the budget include the municipality’s employee benefits, despite the fact that employees are paying maximum contribution levels for their benefits. The increase is 8.59 percent over the previous year, though that figure was projected to be closer to 25 percent., Cruickshank-Borges said those benefits figures were brought down after renegotiations brought about those higher employee copays., Additional savings came from the police, public works, and health and welfare department thanks to reductions in overtime, operating expenses and employee attrition. Additional savings came from reserving funds for snow removal in a trust fund for future use., The township will be using a portion of its surplus as revenue for the municipal budget. About twice as much surplus will be utilized for that purpose this year than last year., In recent weeks, the idea of using the township’s surplus as revenue to help keep the budget afloat has been a sticking point for some., Despite some concerns from residents and Hart, the Democrats who voted in favor of the budget touted it as a step forward for the municipality., “I’m happy that we’re in the position that we will go forward and instead of borrowing money this year … we are going to just lower that amount by $6 million,” Committeewoman Julie Blake said.
