After months of preparation, the Town Council introduced on Tuesday a $45.5 million municipal budget for calendar year 2010. This is a $1.2 million increase over the 2009 budget, which was $44.3 million.
As council members have hinted since January, the budget includes a tax increase, although the hike is smaller than last year’s, and is smaller than the increase considered just two weeks ago.
If the budget is approved in a subsequent vote next month with no further amendments, property owners will pay an additional 66 cents in municipal taxes for every $1,000 of property owned. Since the town assesses the average Secaucus home at $165,000, the 66-cent increase means the average homeowner would pay about $108 more per year to support the municipal budget, which amounts to $27 per tax quarter.
The average homeowner will pay $125 more in total taxes.
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However, school taxes recently went up. During the most recent Board of Education election, held in April, voters approved a $32.18 million budget for the Secaucus School District for the 2010-2011school year. That budget calls for a 2.5 percent tax increase to help offset a $1.6 million loss in state aid.
After combining the proposed municipal tax increase with the school tax and county tax, the average homeowner will see a 76-cent total tax increase per $1,000 of property owned. This amounts to a total increase of $125 annually – or about $31 per tax quarter – for the average homeowner.
The Town Council will hold a public hearing on the budget on July 27 at 7 p.m. and then take a final vote. Council members can propose amendments and cuts to the plan before then.
Town Administrator David Drumeler noted Tuesday that the overall (combined) tax increase is about 2.2 percent, “So, even if we were [subject to Gov. Chris Christie’s] 2.5 cap, we would be below that tax rate,” he said.
Christie has proposed capping annual local property tax increases at 2.5 percent.
Old accounts alleviate tax burden
As recently as two weeks ago, the council was considering a tax increase of $1.12 per thousand, according to Town Councilman Gary Jeffas. However, days before Tuesday’s introduction, several budget cuts and adjustments were made to get the increase down to 66 cents.
Jeffas said the council found a number of accounts for capital projects that were ultimately funded through non-municipal sources.
“The town had put bonds out, funded them, we were paying the money back on them,” he said. “But they were sitting in an account unused.”
A park project on Farm Road is one example. Years ago the town bonded to purchase land for the park. Yet the state, through the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission, later purchased the land and gave it to the town for open space.
“We talked to our auditors and found we could write off some of the debt and apply it to debt service so we don’t have to raise [that money] in taxes,” Jeffas said. “So, it was looking at things like that that allowed us to bring the budget down.”
Drumeler said $422,424 from old capital accounts will be applied to debt service in the 2010 budget.
The council eliminated gas allowances for town inspectors – which in several cases exceeded $1,000 per quarter, according to Mayor Michael Gonnelli, who took office in January.
“At 76 cents, I don’t know who can complain,” he said. “We were faced with a lot of obstacles this year, and we’re still coming in lower than last year.”
Cuts, revenue
Other budget cuts were made earlier in the year.
At least eight professional service contracts – mainly lawyers and lobbyists – were eliminated, totaling about $270,000 in savings.
The new council has also gone after uncollected fines issued to businesses that have had frequent false fire and burglary alarms. In April the council learned that businesses owed $730,000 in uncollected false alarm fines that dated back several years. The town started an amnesty program that allowed companies to settle their fines and pay a fraction of what they owe.
Jeffas said Tuesday that $50,000 has thus far been collected through this amnesty program, with another $188,125 in fines still outstanding.
Deputy Mayor John Bueckner, who chairs the council’s Recreation Committee, has been exploring ways to cut costs from the annual summer concert series. He told the Reporter he expects the 2010 series to cost about $13,000 less than last year.
Also, he noted Tuesday, payroll at the Secaucus Swim Center is down almost $5,750 when compared to the same period last year, while revenue there is up almost $6,200.
E-mail E. Assata Wright at awright@hudsonreporter.com.