BY VINCE ECHAVARIA
Staff Writer
HOLMDEL — Residents may see a 2.7-cent municipal tax increase this year as part of the $16.1 million 2004 municipal budget the Township Committee recently introduced.
The committee approved the introduction of the budget with a 4-0 vote at its March 8 meeting. Committeewoman Serena DiMaso was absent from the meeting.
Township Administrator Christopher Schultz said the proposed 2.7-cent tax hike per $100 of assessed property valuation shows that the committee worked to keep the tax increase down.
"It’s a very favorable increase," Schultz said. "Some good things happened this year."
The proposed budget is under the state’s cap increase limit of 2.5 percent and includes $427,384 in surplus, $33,102 more than last year.
The proposed budget would raise the municipal tax rate from 39.4 cents to 42.1 cents per $100 of assessed property valuation, Schultz said. An owner of a home assessed at $400,000 will pay $108 more a year in municipal taxes, for a total of $1,684 annually, he said.
The majority of the budget increase is due to salary and wage increases, according Schultz. The state introduced a new pension plan for local police and fire fighters that requires municipalities to increase pension costs over a five-year period, he said. The township also added a director of parks and recreation, a public works laborer and a township mechanic, to the municipal staff, he said.
"The park’s director is an addition to the budget and most of the increases in services are for buying better equipment, like a debris truck for public works," Schultz said.
Snow and road debris removal costs, as well as fees to pay for an architect to evaluate potential sites for a proposed township library, have added to the budget, Schultz said.
"The work on this document started many months ago, and after many meetings we arrived at what we think is a prudent guideline for the township," Mayor Larry Fink said.
A public hearing on the budget is scheduled for 8 p.m. April 12 at the township hall.