By Gene Robbins, Managing Editor
Steady as she goes.
Government leaders introduced a 2016 township budget Tuesday that won’t cost local taxpayers any more in property taxes than last year.
A few factors helped keep the budget and tax bite level.
The budget benefited from a mild winter with dramatically lower snow removal costs — almost a quarter-million dollars less than the previous year.
Many retirements from the police force, with lower salaries for replacements, will lower that area of the budget by $73,757.
The revenue side was boosted by more properties coming onto the tax rolls. There was an increase of $106 million in taxable property, notably the apartment complex going up off Route 206 near Valley Road, that helped spread the tax levy over more payers, said Committeeman Carl Suraci.
The two biggest spending increases were items mostly out of local control: insurance and benefits (up $181,095) and pension contributions, which increase $132,541.
Still the all-Republican Township Committee clenched tightly to its bedrock fiscal principle of staying within the state-mandated two-percent cap on tax increases. For the sixth consecutive year, it once again refused to raise the budget by using allowed exceptions to the cap law. If exceptions were taken, it would have added about $284,311 to the tax levy, said Nancy Costa, the township’s chief financial officer.
The proposed local government budget would demand 33 cents for each $100 of assessed value – the same as 2015, said Ms.Costa. She said the owner of a $350,000 assessed property would pay the same $1,155 as he or she did in 2015.
In the overall picture the township budget is a comparatively small piece of the total tax dollar. Ms.Costa said it was about 12 percent of the total tax bite on a property owner. School taxes account for more than 60 percent.
Simultaneously the governing body introduced an ordinance to spend $388,584 for some big-ticket items. The largest item is $100,000 to replace damaged wooden guide rails along roads, but there were three recreation items totaling $160,000. They are renovations to the castle playground in front of the municipal complex on South Branch Road ($75,383), more work on the handicapped-accessible playground at Ann Van Middlesworth Park ($35,000) and replacing wooden ramps, also at AVM Park on Pleasant View Road.
Other projected purchases are a tractor with road mower attachment ($90,000) and a pickup truck ($35,000). Police will also replace two defibrillator units ($3,200) carried in police cars.
Public hearing and vote is scheduled for June 28.
Deputy Mayor Carl Suraci said, “Maintaining a watchful eye over the finances of the township has been the standard of this Township Committee.”
One of the ways to achieve a flat budget, leaders said, is by forgoing borrowing except where unavoidable. The capital items to be purchased will come from the general budget, not by bonding.
Road paving will be paid for by prior year allocations and grants. The potential list of roadways for 2016 include Longfield Drive and Wythe Circle, on which the paving portion is completed. Triangle Road is slated to go to bid this week. New Amwell Road from Route 206 to Taurus Drive is partially funded through a state grant. Winding Way, Euclid Avenue and Spring Valley Road will be paved as part of completion of a sewer project.
Revenues were also helped by adding Manville as a paying partner to the municipal court, but the state government kept aid flat for the seventh straight year.
Mayor Frank DelCore said drafting a municipal budget “is never an easy task.” Committeeman Douglas Tomson said his first year on the budget committee was “eye opening to the amount of effort” to stay under the tax increase cap.
