Township adopts $101.6 million budget Citing pensions & library costs, tax levy to increase by 12 cents BY KATHY CHANG Staff Writer The Township Council unanimously adopted a $101.6 million municipal budget on Jan. 29 that increases taxes by $98 for the average homeowner. The municipal tax rate will rise 12 cents, from $1.43 to $1.55 per $100 of assessed valuation. The owner of an average home assessed at $75,000 in the township would have to pay $1,170 in municipal taxes, which does not include county and school taxes. "This [the adoption] was just an adjustment of numbers from the preliminary budget we presented in September," said Mayor John E. McCormac. The mayor stressed that the net increase in taxes is really $83, as he proposed in September. The increase shown on residents' tax bills is due to the $610,000 set aside for the current redevelopment studies of the waterfront in Keasbey, parts of New Brunswick Avenue in Fords and Hopelawn, Route 1 in Avenel, and Route 27 in Iselin. "Residents will be reimbursed [$15], obviously not all of it this year, since we haven't used all of the money set aside yet," he said. Residents received their tax bills after the Township Council adopted the budget on Jan. 29. The council also passed a resolution that night providing a grace period for residents to pay their tax bill by Feb. 29. The $101.6 million budget for fiscal year July 1, 2008, to June 30, 2009, increased by approximately $5 million from $96.6 million in 2007. However, the mayor said the adopted budget is not comparable to the adopted budget in 2007. "This has been the latest we have adopted the budget," saidMcCormac. "The budget reflects the reduced state aid that we received and the millions that we have received through grants." The township received $150,000 in state aid, down from $700,000 the township received in 2007. "This is good and bad news," said Mc- Cormac, who said the significant drop is not something to worry about. "It means that the state believes that our tax rate has been stable, which it has, but it's always nice to receive more state aid." Township officials said the township would likely benefit from an expected increase of $4.39 million in state school aid under the recently proposed school funding formula, which could help with the school portion of residents' tax bills. "The state gave out more school aid than what we lost in the state aid we received this year, which is good for the taxpayer as a whole," said McCormac. The mayor said other than the low state aid that the township received,much of the increase to the budget is attributed to state pension, insurance, and library costs. "About 91 percent of the budget increase, we have no control over and we must pay," said McCormac. The mayor said state pension costs are up $1.893 million, library costs increased to $430,337 and insurance costs are up $644,224. McCormac said that in addition to the state pension, library and insurance costs, the budget includes the addition of two new police officers who were hired in January. The mayor said his administration has worked to make the township run in a more cost-effective and more efficient way. No cuts were made in services. The township received its first tax payment of $313,000 from its innovative agreement with ProLogis, a Denver-based distribution facilities developer. The agreement included that the township would help the developer build eight warehouses in the Port Reading section of Woodbridge and the township would receive 100 percent of the tax revenue from ProLogis. The mayor said the township received $5 million in grants in 2007, which has kept the tax rate stable. Grants received in 2007 include $500,000 from Middlesex County Open Space, $256,000 from a Transportation Trust Fund, $235,000 from Homeland Security, and $50,000 for a historical museum. The mayor also mentioned purchasing equipment for the Department of Public Works for $600,000, which has been used for maintenance, repair and repaving of municipal and school district infrastructures. "This will allow us to save the township a significant amount of money annually and allow the township to use some of those savings for property tax relief and for overall road programs," he said.