Township Council Gives Final Approval To 2024 Budget

An amended $71.8 million 2024 budget was passed by the Township Council at its May 28 meeting.

The amended budget includes nearly $1.7 million in additional anticipated revenue, including about $1.5 million in state Department of Community Affairs money for Franklin Youth Center programs.

Figures released by the Township in April showed that under the budget, the owner of a home valued at $477,100 – the township average – will see an $80.77 increase in their local portion property tax this year, from $1,135.84 to $1,215.61.

The municipal portion tax rate went down slightly, from 26 cents per $100 of assessed valuation to 25.5 cents per $100 of assessed valuation, Township Manager Robert Vornlocker has said.

The amount to be raised by taxes increased 6 percent over 2023, from $35,842,746 to 37,993,310.

Vornlocker said that mandated costs increased about $2.1 million from 2023.

Those costs are primarily:

• A $1.4 million increase in health insurance costs
• A $180,141 increase in pension and Social Security taxes
• A $257,778 increase in debt service
• A $307,527 increase in the library tax.

Salaries and wages increased by $595,000, or 2.4 percent, which Vornlocker has said was below the current inflation rate.

About $9.3 million of the township’s surplus was used to prevent a larger tax increase, Vornlocker said.

There was also a $174,235 decrease in the Township’s Capital Improvement Fund.

The assessed valuation of township properties increased from 2023’s $13,766,118,400 to the current $14,887,830,900, an 8.15 percent hike.

Final adoption of the budget was delayed because the state was late in reviewing the Township’s spending plan.

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