Both the mayor and deputy mayor voted against the 2011 municipal budget at the April 14 Upper Freehold Township Committee meeting.
Under the budget, which passed in a 3- 2 vote, the average home assessed at $446,215 will have an estimated annual municipal tax increase of $11.22, or about 3 cents per day. No members of the public opted to speak at the public hearing on the budget. Mayor Lorisue Horsnall Mount said she voted against the budget because it contained a 2 percent raise for municipal employees. Deputy Mayor Bob Faber said he voted against it for the same reason.
Mount said her vote did not reflect on employees’ performance.
“I don’t support asking the taxpayers to spend money when so many individuals and families are struggling to maintain their homes or pay for college,” she said.
Mount said that many residents have lost jobs, including those who worked as bus drivers for the Upper Freehold Regional School District (UFRSD). The UFRSD has decided to outsource busing next year. Mount also noted that many senior residents are on fixed incomes.
Committeeman Steve Alexander said the mayor’s and deputy mayor’s votes represent their core values.
“It shows residents we have five independent thinkers up here,” he said.
Alexander said the employees’ 2 percent raise is diluted by a 1.5 percent increase in their contribution to health benefit costs this year. In 2009, employee salaries were cut by 10 percent and municipal offices closed on Friday due to budget woes.
Township Auditor Michael Cesaro said municipal expenses account for 7.7 percent of a taxpayer’s bill. The open space fund accounts for 2.8 percent and county taxes make up 14.1 percent. The majority of taxes, 75.4 percent, go to the UFRSD, he said.
This year, the amount to be raised by taxation for municipal purposes is $1,953,360, up from $1,915,067 last year. The 2010 tax collection rate was 98.04 percent. Cesaro said township receipts for delinquent taxes went down, which he called significant in the current economy.
Of the appropriations in the 2011 municipal budget, 46 percent is allocated to general operations, 29.6 percent for debt service, 17.2 percent as reserve for uncollected taxes and 7.2 percent for deferred charges and statutory expenditures. No funds were allotted for capital improvements, according to Cesaro.
The average Upper Freehold house should pay a total of $9,651.63 in taxes this year. That includes $740.72 in municipal taxes, $267.73 in open space taxes, $1,365.42 in county taxes and $7,277.77 in regional school taxes.
The budget presentation may be viewed on the township’s website, www.uftnj.com.