The Hopewell Township Committee’s public hearing for the township’s 2021 municipal budget is scheduled for May 17.
Mayor Julie Blake, Deputy Mayor Courtney Peters-Manning, Committeewoman Kristin McLaughlin, Committeeman Kevin Kuchinski and Committeeman Michael Ruger voted “yes” on the budget’s introduction, which occurred on April 19.
Hopewell Township’s municipal appropriations are increasing from $23.59 million in 2020 to $24.6 million in 2021. Residential and commercial property owners support the appropriations through a tax levy.
The tax levy is increasing from $16.07 million in 2020 to $16.5 million for 2021 budget.
According to budget documents, the current budget includes an increase in the municipal tax rate, which is expected to be 43.4 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. In 2021, the owner of a home that is assessed at $475,000 pays $2,061 in municipal taxes.
The 2020 municipal tax rate was 41 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. In 2020, the owner of a home assessed at $475,000 paid $1,947 in municipal taxes.
Municipal taxes are one item on a property owner’s total tax bill, which also includes Hopewell Valley Regional School District 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 revenues in the 2021 budget, Hopewell Township will use $1.73 million from the surplus as revenue in the budget. In the 2020 budget, officials used $1.18 million from the surplus funds as revenue in the budget. Other revenues in the 2021 budget include $1.63 million in state aid, which is a slight decrease in aid received in 2020 ($1.65 million); $700,000 from public and private revenues, $529,417 in shared service agreements, $367,000 from fees and permits, and $234,066 from the Cable TV franchise fee.
When it comes to the appropriations of the budget for 2021, the budget will fund appropriations that include $6.32 million on municipal debt service, $2.56 million on medical insurance, $3.49 million towards police department salary and wages, $1.75 million in public works salary and wages, $813,272 on shared service agreements, and $303,000 on utilities and street lighting.
