HOWELL — The Township Council has adopted a 2015 municipal budget that totals $46.2 million and will be supported by the collection of $24.5 million in local property taxes.
Howell’s residential and commercial property owners will save a total of $800,000 in municipal taxes this year as the tax levy to support the operation of the municipality has been reduced from the $25.3 million that was collected to support a $45.9 million budget in 2014.
Some property owners will pay less in municipal taxes in 2015 than they paid in 2014. Some property owners may pay more in municipal taxes than they paid a year ago.
Officials said Howell’s municipal tax rate will decrease from 45.3 cents to 39.8 cents per $100 of assessed valuation.
In 2014, the average home in Howell was assessed at $275,800 and the owner of that home paid $1,249 in municipal taxes.
In 2015, the average home in Howell is assessed at $308,500, but with the 5.5-cent decrease in the tax rate, the owner of that home will pay $1,227 in municipal taxes.
If an individual’s home was assessed at $300,000 in 2014 and is still assessed at $300,000 in 2015, the municipal tax will drop from $1,359 to $1,194.
However, if an individual’s home was assessed at $300,000 in 2014 and is assessed at $350,000 in 2015, the municipal tax will increase from $1,359 in 2014 to $1,393 in 2015.
Municipal property taxes pay for all operations in Town Hall, including the Police Department, township administration, the planning and zoning offices, parks and recreation, public works and municipal professionals such as attorneys, engineers, and planners.
The 2015 budget indicates that officials will use slightly more money from Howell’s surplus (savings) account this year than in 2014. The council used $3.3 million from surplus as revenue in the 2014 budget and will use $3.5 million from surplus as revenue in the 2015 budget.
Grants to support the budget will increase by $180,501 to $208,270 and include the Drunk Driving Enforcement Fund ($32,908), the Clean Communities program ($96,149), a recycling tonnage grant ($51,713) and the Monmouth County Senior Citizens Grant ($27,500), according to Chief Financial Officer Louis Palazzo.
State aid to Howell for 2015 will be $7.92 million; the same amount as 2014.
Palazzo said the budget accounts for the hiring of four police officers and four laborers. The new police officers were sworn in on Jan. 1.
Council members did not comment on the budget and voted 5-0 to adopt it at the April 20 meeting. No one from the public asked a question about the budget or commented on it during the public hearing that preceded the council’s vote.
— Taylor M. Lier