JACKSON – The members of the Jackson Township Council have introduced a $54.65 million budget that will fund the operation of the municipality in 2022.
Township Council President Martin Flemming, Vice President Andrew Kern, Councilman Alex Sauickie, Councilman Stephen Chisholm and Councilman Nino Borrelli voted “yes” on a motion to introduce the budget at the March 22 meeting.
A public hearing on the budget is scheduled for April 26. The council members may adopt the budget following the public hearing.
Business Administrator Terence Wall said 2021 budget revenues exceeded estimates by more than $2.5 million. He called the municipal budget “a year round process” and said, “Different than many municipalities, our departments request what they need. They don’t request what they need, then pad a budget and back it out and those kinds of things.
“There was very clear direction from Mayor (Michael) Reina to have the budget straightforward, to have it real, to have it make sense and only use dollars you need to use for the operations of the municipality,” Wall said.
In 2021, the council members adopted a $49.37 million budget that was supported in part by the collection of $34.26 million in taxes from Jackson’s residential and commercial property owners. Officials used $5.95 million from the township’s surplus fund (savings) as revenue in the budget.
In 2022, the council members have introduced a $54.65 million budget that will be supported in part by the collection of $34.64 million in taxes from Jackson’s residential and commercial property owners. Officials are proposing to use $9.17 million from the township’s surplus fund as revenue in the budget.
The remainder of the budget will be funded by revenues from other sources. Municipal officials said $23.5 million of the $54.65 million budget has been appropriated for salaries and wages.
In 2021, Jackson’s municipal tax rate was 50.1 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. The average home was assessed at $329,181 and the owner of that home paid about $1,652 in municipal taxes.
In 2022, Jackson’s municipal tax rate is projected to be 50 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. The average home is now assessed at $329,861 and the owner of that home will pay about $1,649 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.
Sauckie said just because municipal appropriations have increased by more than $5 million from 2021 to 2022, that does not mean an individual property owner’s municipal taxes will increase.
The municipal budget funds all of the operations of Jackson, including the Jackson Police Department, the Department of Public Works, the administration of government, employee health benefits, insurance, payments to employee pension funds, the repayment of debt and more.
