Updated: Final Proposed Township Budget To Carry ‘Lowest Tax Hike’ In Several Years

Township Councilman Phil Kramer said the proposed 2015 township budget will carry a 3 percent hike in the amount to be raised by taxes.

Update: The budget was introduced at the March 10 Township Council meeting. A public hearing has been set for April 14.

Original Story: The $57.2 million township budget expected to be introduced next month will carry with it a 3 percent hike in the amount to be raised by taxes, the Township Council was told Feb. 24.

Based on that figure, the proposed tax levy of $37,388,103 is about $1.1 million more than the 2014 total tax levy of $36,299,129.

Township Councilman Phil Kramer (D-Ward 3) said that translates to a local portion tax increase of about $32 for the owner of a residential property assessed at the township average of $309,000.

The 3 percent increase “is the lowest tax increase in several years,” Kramer said.

“I commend the council for its penny-pinching, while still maintaining services,” Kramer said, noting that the township budget has decreased about 4 percent since 2009. “We are not out of the woods, but we can see the edge of the woods.”

Kramer  said the council likes to keep about a $10 million fund balance to be able to pay the school district and Somerset County their share of taxes collected, among other things. He said that level should be secure over at least the next several years.

Township Manager Robert Vornlocker said he will have a budget for the council’s consideration at the March 10 meeting.

For more stories about earlier versions of the proposed 2015 budget, see here and here.

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