The Guttenberg Town Council held a public hearing at its meeting Monday for the proposed $16.4 million budget, which may raise municipal property taxes 6 percent.
The meeting also saw a furry special guest – Roxy the boxer dog, who gained media attention after she disappeared from her Staten Island home during a December blizzard and somehow turned up in Guttenberg recently.
The budget
After holding the budget hearing Monday, the council must wait for the state Department of Community Affairs (DCA) to review the budget before the council takes a final vote.
This will be the first year that the town runs on a January to December budget. Before, it ran from July through June.
Mayor Gerald Drasheff estimated that this year’s municipal budget will include a roughly 6 percent increase in the municipal tax levy. The proposed budget counts on approximately $12.2 million from residents’ taxes, although this could change before final approval.
Drasheff said the municipal tax rate, if the levy is approved, will be $15.20 per $1,000 of assessed value. Since the town had a revaluation of homes recently, residents may pay more or less depending on their new assessments.
But municipal taxes are only one portion of the overall property taxes that residents pay. The school and county budgets will also affect the tax rate when they are adopted this spring.
While Board of Education officials have not commented on their budget, which was introduced last week, Drasheff said that there is an expected school tax levy of $9.9 million, an approximate 6 percent increase from last year.
He said that although the municipal portion was over the state’s mandatory 2 percent cap in budget increase, it will be considered allowable by the DCA since expenses, such as capital improvements, municipal debt services, and public and private programs like the pension system, are excluded from the cap.
No members of the public choose to speak at the public budget hearing.
Officials said there may be minor amendments to the budget before it is adopted.
Guttenberg’s real estate valued at $801M
Last year Guttenberg embarked on a revaluation, a reassessment of all taxpaying properties in town. The town decided it was necessary after there was an influx of property owners filing appeals, since the value of their property had decreased since the last townwide revaluation.
Drasheff said the revaluation determined that the total true value of all Guttenberg’s tax ratables is $801.4 million, the figure submitted to the Hudson County Board of Taxation.
Drasheff said that around a third of all properties in town have seen a reduction in their taxes as a result of their assessed property values dropping.
Runaway dog visits council
A Staten Island resident and his long lost dog appeared together at the council meeting.
Phil Molina got his dog back thanks to the work of Guttenberg Police Officer Rick Andersen.
Andersen was arriving for his March 4 shift when he witnessed a woman leading a dog, later found to be named Roxy, into police headquarters. The resident had seen the dog almost get struck by a car on Kennedy Boulevard.
The officers were astounded at how friendly Roxy was and they kept her in a cell with food and water. After Andersen texted his wife a photo, she asked if she was going to bring Roxy home.
The next day they brought her to the Oradell Animal Hospital, where they found a location chip in the dog, which had gone missing from Staten Island on Dec. 26. Anderson called Molina, who sounded – according to Andersen – like he was “going to jump through the phone.”
Molina said the dog had jumped over a fence after a snowstorm and may have been taken to Hudson County after that.
“I really didn’t lose hope,” Molina said.
Longtime residents, police recognized
Drasheff gave proclamations to local residents Rose Gunther, 92, and Eleanor Mueller, 89, as “Women in History” for 2011.
“Her life story reads like the great American novel describing this country in the first half of the 20th century,” said Drasheff of Gunther.
He said that he always recommends that young people in town ask Gunther and Mueller questions about Guttenberg since “…they can bring life to some of the history.”
Also, Police Officer Francesco DeLucia was named Officer of the Year for 2010, while Police Officers Shaundell Barker and Michael Meawad, along with Sgt. Juan Barrera, were named officers of the month.
Tricia Tirella may be reached at TriciaT@hudsonreporter.com.