JACKSON – The members of the Jackson Township Council have adopted a $47.54 million budget that will fund the operation of the municipality during 2020.
During a meeting on April 28, council Vice President Alex Sauickie, Councilman Andrew Kern, Councilman Martin Flemming and Councilman Ken Bressi voted to adopt the budget.
Township Council President Barry Calogero was absent.
In 2019, council members adopted a $44.79 million budget that was supported in part by the collection of $33 million in taxes from Jackson’s residential and commercial property owners. Officials used $3.7 million from the township’s surplus fund (savings) as revenue in the budget.
The 2019 municipal tax rate was 48.6 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. The average home was assessed at $327,707 and the owner of that home paid about $1,593 in municipal taxes.
In 2020, the $47.54 million budget the council has adopted will be supported by the collection of $33.6 million in taxes from residential and commercial property owners. Officials will use $4.8 million from the surplus fund as revenue in the budget.
The 2020 municipal tax rate is projected to be 49.2 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. The average home is assessed at $328,520 and the owner of that home will pay about $1,617 in municipal taxes.
Municipal taxes are one item on a property owner’s tax bill, which also includes Jackson School District taxes and Ocean County taxes.
The total amount of property taxes an individual pays is determined by the assessed value of his home and/or property and the tax rate that is set by each taxing entity.
Selected appropriations in the 2020 budget include police salaries and wages, $12.42 million; police, other expenses, $763,152; police dispatch/911 salaries and wages, $546,000; employee group health insurance, $4.54 million; general liability insurance, $807,678; Police and Firemen’s Retirement System of New Jersey, $2.98 million; Public Employees Retirement System, $998,757; Social Security System, $1.62 million; streets and road maintenance salaries and wages, $1.55 million; buildings and grounds salaries and wages, $808,613; and legal services, $484,500.
Business Administrator Terence Wall told the council members that at the end of 2019, the township came in under budget by more than $2.8 million. He said the administration would continue to work hard to try and come in under budget in 2020.
Wall attributed ending 2019 under budget to municipal employees in all departments working in a fiscally responsible fashion.
Sauickie praised the AA+ bond rating Standard and Poor’s has assigned to Jackson.
“Having an AA+ S&P bond rating is amazing in this state. … The state was just downgraded to a BBB+ (rating) … So despite the state being at BBB+ and the financial woes that are happening at the state level, Jackson can be pretty proud of the fact we have an AA+ rating … when we need to borrow (money) we can do it at incredibly favorable rates which translates into lower taxes for residents,” Sauickie said.
During the public hearing on the budget, a resident asked the council members if they are planning to purchase additional open space parcels for the purpose of preventing the land from being developed.
Sauickie said there is a significant amount of money in the open space budget.
“We continue to put about $1.4 million aside for open space currently,” he said. “In general, we are open to all ideas. … The council is certainly pro-environment and we believe conserving open space falls into that.”
In response to a question from a resident about the purchase of open space parcels, Wall said the process of securing land takes time.
“Gathering resources and having willing buyers and willing sellers …. from my experience it takes time for those (open space) programs to come to fruition,” he said.
