Boro averts 1.8-cent tax increase
Council offsets increase by tapping surplus
BY LINDA DeNICOLA
Staff Writer

TINTON FALLS - Last week the Borough Council introduced an amended budget that will use a small portion of the surplus to offset a proposed tax increase.

The council voted unanimously to hold taxes at a figure close to the 2006 rate.

Some council members had questioned a proposed tax increase in the original budget. A special meeting was held April 23 at which they hammered out amendments and arrived at the current proposed budget.

The $19,920,819 spending plan was trimmed to $19,916,088, a difference of only $4,731, and the amount to be raised by taxes was reduced to $9,663,618 from $9,900,137, a difference of $236,519.

Minor cuts were made to several appropriations, group insurance, expenses and the reserve for uncollected taxes.

The original budget called for a 2.3 percent increase over last year's budget of $19,516,865, which equated to a $441,143 difference. The proposed budget would have translated into about $18 more in taxes annually for each $100,000 of assessed value. Since most of the houses in the borough are assessed at between $150,000 to $600,000, a home valued at $300,000 would have paid an additional $54 in taxes annually.

Councilman Michael Skudera said last month that the council voted to use some of the surplus, 13 percent, toward the budget increase.

"We didn't drain the surplus, but people in town paid a lot extra last year."

In 2006, residents saw a 27 percent increase in their tax rate. When the 2006 budget was introduced, Mayor Peter Maclearie blamed, in part, the prior administration's decision to utilize over 94 percent of the existing surplus, which led to increased taxes, in order to stabilize future budgets.

Skudera said that this year residents deserve a break because other variables that affect the tax bite, namely the school and county taxes, are going up.

Councilwoman Kim Barrett said she is also concerned about the results of the revaluation that will be reflected in the 2008 tax bills, especially for seniors.

The public hearing and final vote on the amended budget is expected to be held at the May 15 meeting.