Hopewell Township Committee members are set to hold a public hearing next month on the adoption of a $23.11 million budget to fund municipal operations in 2020.
After officials introduced the budget on April 20, the committee voted unanimously for a public hearing which will take place on May 18.
Mayor Kristin McLaughlin, Deputy Mayor Michael Ruger, Committeeman Kevin Kuchinski, Committeewoman Julie Blake and Committeewoman Courtney Peters-Manning voted “yes” on the measure.
“We did come in below the appropriations cap and levy cap, so I would say that is a pretty good budget for a year that has been a little wild,” said Elaine Borges, business administrator and chief financial officer.
Hopewell Township’s municipal tax rate is expected to be 40.4 cents per $100 of assessed valuation in the 2020 budget. The owner of a home assessed at $463,000 will pay $1,870 in municipal taxes.
Residential and commercial property owners are projected to pay $16.07 million to support the the budget.
“We have set aside emergency monies in the 2020 budget to help us deal with the emerging COVID-19 crisis,” Kuchinski said.
The 2019 budget totaled $23.12 million. Residential and commercial property owners paid a total tax levy of $15.75 million to support the budget.
In 2019, the municipal tax rate was 39.7 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. The owner of a home that is still assessed at $463,000 paid $1,838 in municipal taxes.
Municipal taxes are one item on a property owner’s total tax bill, which also includes school taxes and Mercer County taxes.
The amount an individual pays in taxes is determined by the assessed value of his home and/or property, and the tax rate that is set by each taxing entity.
For 2020, officials will use $1.83 million from the surplus funds as revenue in the budget.
In the 2019 budget, officials used $1.36 million from the surplus funds as revenue in the budget.
In addition to property taxes and funds from surplus, revenues in the 2020 budget are projected to include $3.32 million in miscellaneous revenues and $1.65 million in state aid.
Hopewell Township’s budget covers the cost of providing law enforcement through the police department, public safety, public works, shared service agreements, road and street maintenance and construction, general government, maintenance for township parks and capital projects.
