The Monmouth County Board of Freeholders has introduced a $449.45 million budget to fund the operation of the county during 2018. The spending plan calls for a $3.03 million increase in the tax levy that will be collected from the county’s residential and commercial property owners this year.
However, the numbers that were presented in the budget that was introduced on Feb. 8 are likely to change before the spending plan is adopted by the board, according to the freeholder director.
Regarding the tentative budget, Freeholder Director Tom Arnone said, “As it currently stands, county taxes would increase by only 1 percent. However, I cannot stress enough that this budget is still a working draft with the opportunity, rather the goal, to make additional cuts to keep the tax levy as flat as possible.
“If the budget stayed the same and was adopted as is, this would be the first slight tax increase in seven years while continuing to keep the great services and infrastructure improvements throughout the county.
“As it currently stands, the budget introduced (on Feb. 8) is $449 million in comparison to the $493 million budget in 2010. We have worked hard over the last eight years to greatly reduce the county’s budget and keep taxes flat while maintaining the high quality of life and number of services for our residents.
“I can personally assure our residents that I, along with my colleagues and administration, will continue to review the draft budget and find ways to keep costs down. Moreover, cutting costs does not end once the budget is adopted.
“We are constantly looking for new ways to bring cost-saving measures to residents in all of our 53 municipalities. As I said during recent freeholder meetings, it is my goal to continue working on our draft budget and to adopt a zero tax increase budget during our meeting scheduled for March 8,” Arnone said.
The impact of an increase in the tax levy on an individual property owner and the overall amount a person pays in county taxes would be determined by the current assessed value of that individual’s property and the county tax rate that will eventually be set for each of the county’s 53 municipalities.
The 2018 budget introduced by the freeholders on Feb. 8 shows appropriations of $449.45 million. Revenues include $40 million from surplus (savings); $103.95 million from miscellaneous revenues anticipated; and $305.5 million to be raised through the taxation of residential and commercial properties.
The 2018 appropriations include $98.04 million for public safety; $62.65 million for insurance; $59.06 million for debt service; $43.74 million for human services and health; $37.63 million for statutory expenses; $37.55 million for education; $34.23 million for public works; $30.09 million for general government; and $19.81 million for parks and recreation.
The county’s 2017 budget totaled $445.25 million. Revenues included $43.5 million from surplus; $99.27 million from miscellaneous revenues anticipated; and $302.47 million raised through the taxation of residential and commercial properties.
The county budget covers the cost of providing for the maintenance of 1,000 lane miles of roads, more than 900 bridges, 16,000 acres of county parks, emergency management, 911 communications, law enforcement through the prosecutor’s and sheriff’s offices, elections, deed recording and passport services in the county clerk’s office, probate and adoptions through the surrogate’s office and more, according to a press release.
A public hearing on the 2018 budget will be held at 5 p.m. March 8 at the Monmouth County Hall of Records, 1 E. Main St., Freehold. Members of the public may comment on the budget at that time.
As of the 2016 Census estimate, Monmouth County’s population was 625,846.