By Audrey Levine, Staff Writer
After originally approving a $45 increase in municipal taxes, and a fear of having to raise it $90 because of state aid cuts, the Borough Council has introduced a budget that meets in the middle with a $75 increase.
The Borough Council on Monday unanimously introduced a series of amendments to its 2010 budget based on changes made following Gov. Chris Christie’s announcement about state aid to be given to municipalities this year.
Council faced a $413,620 loss in state aid after the budget was initially introduced in March.
Public hearing and public adoption for the budget will be held 6:30 p.m. May 24 in Borough Hall.
”We didn’t want to affect jobs, so there are no layoffs,” said Councilman Lou Fischer, the finance chairman. “No decision came easy here.”
Residents with homes assessed at the borough average of $300,000 will see municipal property taxes rise from $2,058 in 2009 to $2,133 in 2010.
This translates to a 2.5-cent, or 3.6 percent, increase in the municipal tax rate, from 68.6 cents in 2009 to 71.1 cents per $100 of assessed value in 2010.
The originally introduced budget had created a 1.5-cent increase in the tax rate, amounting to 70.1 cents.
The budget itself stands at a total of $13,395,321.25, a 0.2 percent increase over the originally proposed $13,368,478.38 budget and a 3.2 percent increase over the $12,975,953.85 budget approved in 2009.
Part of the rise in the total budget comes from the recent approval of $314,874.25 in grant funds from the state. Borough Administrator Gary Garwacke said several grants including the Police Department’s Click It or Ticket program and the Child Passenger Grant were approved in the interim since the budget was first introduced in March.
These funds increase the budget total, he said, but count as revenue for the borough.
In addition, instead of the originally estimated $8,131,282.52 in the budget to be raised by taxes, the borough now needs to raise $8,247,902.52 through taxes.
”Everything there is because of the state aid cut,” Mr. Garwacke said.
In making the amendments to the budget, the borough was faced with a loss of 52.6 percent of consolidated municipal aid, from $1,210,784 in 2009 to $573,841 in 2010. The borough is receiving an increase in energy tax receipts, from $811,811 in 2009 to $1,035,134 in 2010.
The total state aid to be received is a 20.4 percent decrease from the 2009 figures.
”This year lays the groundwork for next year,” Councilman Fischer said. “We may have to make more devastating cuts then.”
Among the cuts made in the amendments were $10,000 in other expenses for the Police Department and Office of Emergency Management, and a reduction of $15,000 for the Department of Public Works.
In addition, according to Mr. Garwacke, the borough cut $57,000 from its capital improvement fund, bringing the total contributions for 2010 to about $20,000. Despite this cut, he said, there is still about $88,000 in the capital improvement fund for future projects.
”We had budgeted this year for $77,000 in capital improvements, for a total of $140,000,” he said. “This is used for down payments in bonds (and equipment). Now we only have $88,000.”
Mr. Garwacke said the funds for capital improvements accumulate over time, so there are still funds for purchasing new equipment for the fire department and other necessities, but the borough will have a little less overall to work with.
”The capital improvement fund grows over the years, it sticks around and builds,” he said. “We keep it for the future.”
Mr. Fischer said the borough also made other changes, including creating stricter rules for overtime and asking employees to use compensatory time instead, unless in extreme circumstances.
In addition, Mr. Fischer said, the borough reduced the number of cell phones being given to employees for work purposes, potentially saving $8,000 annually. Basically, he said, 15 employees with cell phones were told they could have the phone and keep their numbers free of charge if they agreed to pay for the plans and minutes associated with them.
In other words, Mr. Fischer said, the borough would only be paying for the costs of the phones themselves.
”For the people who resisted, we gave them the opportunity to tell why,” he said. “Otherwise, if they were not paying, we got rid of the phone.”
Mr. Garwacke said he is pleased with the work done by the departments to change the budget, and said he believes the $75 is a reasonable rate for what the borough was dealing with in cuts.
”We were already under the cap when the state aid was cut,” he said. “Other towns were already over, so they had to cut double. But we tried to keep taxes in a reasonable range. Significant cuts would have been needed for the decrease in state aid.”
