MANALAPAN — The Township Committee has adopted a $33.8 million budget to fund the operation of Manalapan during 2018.
The budget was adopted on April 25 in a 5-0 vote with support from Mayor Jack McNaboe, Deputy Mayor Susan Cohen, Committeewoman Mary Ann Musich, Committeeman David Kane and Committeeman Kevin Uniglicht.
In commenting on the budget, McNaboe said, “We are never going to make 40,000 people of this town happy with what we adopt, but this is a good solid budget. It has an increase for public safety, it keeps the town running and it provides services to our residents.”
The 2018 budget will be supported through the collection of $22.3 million in a local tax levy to be paid by Manalapan’s residential and commercial property owners. The township will receive $3.87 million in state aid and apply $3.67 million from its surplus fund as revenue in the budget.
Chief Financial Officer Patricia Addario said the 2018 municipal tax rate is estimated to be 33.6 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. She said that figure is subject to change upon a final certification from the assessor on or about May 5. The 2017 tax rate was 34.1 cents per $100.
With a municipal tax rate of 33.6 cents, the owner of a home assessed at the township average of $428,076 will pay $1,438 in municipal taxes this year. In 2017, the average home in Manalapan was assessed at $413,631, the tax rate was 34.1 cents and the owner of that home paid $1,410 in municipal taxes.
If an individual owned a home assessed at $400,000 in 2017 and that home is still assessed at $400,000 in 2018, the municipal tax will decrease from $1,364 to $1,344.
The owner of a home assessed at $250,000 will pay $840 in municipal taxes in 2018, a $13 decrease if his home was also assessed at $250,000 in 2017. The owner of a home assessed at $600,000 will pay $2,016 in municipal taxes in 2018, a $30 decrease if his home was also assessed at $600,000 in 2017.
Township Administrator Tara Lovrich said 29 percent of residents will see no increase in their municipal tax and 33 percent of residents will see an increase in their municipal tax of $25 or less this year.
For every $1 in taxes a Manalapan property owner pays, 17 percent (i.e., 17 cents) goes to the municipality. Other taxes are paid to Monmouth County (15 percent), the Manalapan-Englishtown Regional School District (45 percent), the Freehold Regional High School District (20 percent), a municipal fire district (2 percent) and other assessments (1 percent), according to township officials.
Lovrich said Manalapan’s tax base is 91.37 percent residential and 7.42 percent commercial. The township’s estimated population in 2016 was slightly more than 40,000 residents.
Capital improvements for 2018 will include road repaving, the addition of a pickleball court at the Manalapan Recreation Center, playing field renovations, and the purchase of police vehicles and equipment for the Department of Public Works.
The total budget is up $187,000 from 2017, according to municipal officials. Total salaries and wages are up $345,000 from 2017 and the police department accounts for $337,000 of that increase. Police salaries and wages for 2018 amount to $7.41 million (approximately 22 percent of the budget). In 2017, police salaries and wages totaled $7.07 million.