By KAYLA J. MARSH
Staff Writer
MIDDLETOWN — Officials have introduced a municipal budget that will keep the township tax rate flat for 2016.
At an April 4 Township Committee meeting, Chief Financial Officer Colleen M. Lapp said that the introduced total budget of $70,327,440, is a 1.28 percent increase, or $890,124 increase, from last year’s total budget of $69,437,316.
Lapp said the introduced budget includes a tax levy of $51,116,061 — up approximately $706,191 or 1.40 percent from the 2015 levy of $50,409,869.
The introduced budget includes a municipal tax rate of .491 cents per $100 of assessed value, the same rate as last year’s budget.
The owner of a home valued at the township average of $402,547, is expected to pay $1,976.23 in municipal taxes — $32 more for the year or $2.67 more per month.
Lapp said the proposed municipal budget is well below the state-mandated levy cap and remains in full conformance with the state levy cap law.
“Over the past several years we’ve had one of the lowest tax rates in all of Monmouth County, so I think this is fantastic and just affirms everyone’s commitment here at the township to doing the best we can with as little as we can and maximizing what we do get,” Committeewoman Stephanie C. Murray said.
“It is something to be proud of to have a neutral effect on the taxpayers, and it is good news for everybody.”
Last year’s .97 percent tax levy increase was the lowest increase the township has seen in the last decade, and Lapp said this year, the amount to be raised by taxation is about $47,664,804.
“In 2010 we were at a high of over 13 percent and … last year we were at a low of a little bit under 1 percent,” she said. “This year we are up a little bit, but still lower than we have been in many prior years.”
“We drive our budgets based on doing things as efficiently and cost-effectively as we can and that is how you get results like this.”
Factors associated with the proposed change in the tax levy include a decrease in revenues, snow-removal costs and increased insurance costs.
According to officials, township revenues, including parking permits and court fees, decreased by 7 percent or $998,067.
Snow-removal costs for 2016 to date are $818,919 and insurance costs, primarily health insurance, has increased by $453,000 or 4.62 percent.
“Middletown’s proposed budget reflects a steadfast commitment to reduce costs without sacrificing core essential government services,” Mayor Gerard Scharfenberger said in a statement.
“We consistently seek ways to further minimize costs, maximize revenues and simply do more with less.”
According to Lapp, with every dollar residents pay towards the tax levy, 62 percent goes to the school board, 21 percent stays at the municipal level, 13 percent goes to the county and then the municipal library, open space and county open space receive 1-2 percent each.
“The largest portions [of the budget] are the salary and wages, insurance — which includes medical, liability and workers compensation — and operating expenditures which is basically the different departments operating expense budgets,” she said.
Officials said the township has also experienced some savings due to shared service agreements with surrounding municipalities and the township’s Board of Education.
Recently the township entered into a shared service agreement with Fair Haven for tax collection, and the April 4 meeting saw the Township Committee commencing a shared service agreement with Monmouth County for dispatch services.
“A lot of the things that we have done over the past year or two, it takes a while to really fully realize the savings, but we’re poised I think in the next few years to really see a huge savings, and if we keep spending under control it will make a huge difference,” Scharfenberger said.
Utility costs are also down approximately 9.5 percent or $238,000.
Significant savings have been realized through an energy audit, upgrades to lighting and HVAC systems and purchasing natural gas and electric in aggregate as part of a cooperative of government agencies.
Other items impacting the budget include approximately $1 million being appropriated in anticipation of a large-scale construction project — a new Town Hall and a loss of $129,000 in income due to Trinity Hall, an independent all-girls college preparatory high school that has operated from a temporary campus at Croydon Hall in the Leonardo section of the township since 2013, vacating the property in June. Trinity Hall is moving to a building located in the Tinton Falls section of Fort Monmouth and will start classes there in September.
Officials said the township’s budget could have been more than $2 million higher simply by applying unused cap banked from previous years — including $894,172 from 2015, $772,852 from 2014, $1,379,131 from 2013 and $1,521,874 from 2012.
According to officials, the municipality is allowed to spend a certain amount of money each year, and funds not spent are allowed to be “banked” for use up to three years after.
“Since the levy cap has come into effect, many years we have not utilized the amount that is allowable,” Lapp said.
“As a committee you have a philosophy that you like to keep everything under 2 percent … and I thought this was significant to point out how conservative that is and how that helps your taxpayers by not utilizing these amounts that you could have.”
Deputy Mayor Anthony Fiore commended the administration on this year’s budget introduction.
“We look at this as a work in progress and just to see the numbers going back from 2012 … it is astounding to come in year after year below the 2 percent [state-mandated cap], and it is a testament to what this committee continues to do to alleviate the struggles of our residents,” he said.
“We continue to make changes, we continue to be innovative … and that is a testament to everybody being on the same page, and it is great to see that happening.”
A public hearing on the budget is scheduled for the Township Committee’s May 8 meeting at Town Hall.
