ENGLISHTOWN – No changes have been made to the defeated 2022 Englishtown Fire District budget by the Borough Council, which maintained the $512,000 tax levy that will support the Englishtown Fire Department this year.
Earlier this year, the fire commissioners who oversee the fire district proposed a 2022 budget that totaled $625,297 and was supported by the collection of $512,000 in taxes from the fire district’s residential and commercial property owners.
When the budget was placed before the fire district’s voters in February, the vote ended in a tie, which is considered a defeat by law, according to representatives of the fire district, who did not provide the vote totals.
With the defeat of the proposed budget, the spending plan was sent to the Borough Council for review.
During the governing body’s March 23 meeting, Borough Attorney Joseph Youssouf informed the council members they needed to take action on the fire district budget within 30 days of its defeat.
Because the council did not have another regularly scheduled meeting until April, Youssouf advised the members of the governing body to take action on the budget that evening.
Following a discussion between municipal officials and representatives of the fire district, Mayor Thomas Reynolds recommended that the council approve a resolution accepting the budget as it was originally presented by the fire commissioners. The resolution was approved by the council in a unanimous vote.
The fire district’s 2021 budget totaled $612,297 and was supported by the collection of $499,000 in taxes. The average home assessment was $263,644 and the fire district’s tax rate was 19 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. The owner of that home paid about $500 in fire district taxes.
The average home assessment in Englishtown in 2022 is $276,798 and the fire district’s tax rate is expected to be 18.5 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. The owner of that home will pay about $512 in fire district taxes.
Fire district taxes are one item on an Englishtown property owner’s tax bill, which also includes Englishtown municipal taxes, Monmouth County taxes, Manalapan-Englishtown Regional School District taxes and Freehold Regional High School District taxes.
The amount an individual pays in property taxes is determined by the assessed value of his home and/or property and the tax rate that is established by each taxing entity.