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Politics & Government

Spring Lake Heights Aiming for Zero Municipal Tax Hike

Council's finance committee seeking ideas to cut $160K out of proposed 2011 budget

If the borough council’s finance committee has its way, property owners in Spring Lake Heights will not see any hike in municipal taxes this year.

To affect a zero tax increase in the proposed calendar year 2011 budget, now totaling slightly more than $5 million, the finance committee is encouraging borough residents to present ideas to town hall for cutting expenses and increasing revenues.

Since the council introduced the proposed budget on March 14, Councilwoman Patty Cindea, who chairs the governing body’s finance committee, says she has found about two-thirds of the total $160,000 that would have to be sliced off the spending plan to prevent the planned 1.5 cent tax rate hike in municipal property taxes.

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Finding the other one-third, amounting to about $53,000, is where the challenge lies, Cindea said at the council’s March 28 meeting.

“If anyone has any ideas how to find (other budget cuts), let us know,” Cindea told the council and the public.

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The finance committee has been reviewing the 2011 estimated costs for the municipal court and for the borough’s public works department for ways to save money, Cindea said. Some unsalaried municipal positions, now paid by stipend, could also be eliminated.

Additional cuts to the proposed budget will be reviewed and decided upon by the full council when the spending plan is presented for a final vote to adopt on April 11.

A salary and wage freeze that took effect in the borough last year continues, and no other layoffs are expected, Cindea said. Only those employees eligible for “step increases” would see more money in their paychecks.

The borough has seen a slight increase in revenues thanks to about $30,000 collected by local police in traffic tickets. Further savings came by dropping a few part-time positions last year and by transferring the town’s dispatch services to neighboring Spring Lake, Cindea explained.

Meanwhile, now that Spring Lake officials have notified the borough that it will end its interlocal services agreement to share courtroom services in October, Councilman Richard Diver is working on entering a similar new agreement with other nearby towns. The borough would like to maintain the cost savings it has reaped since entering the shared services agreement with Spring Lake in February 2007.

In a letter dated March 23, Spring Lake Borough Clerk Jane L. Gillespie notified Spring Lake Heights Mayor Fran Enright and the council that Spring Lake’s governing body had adopted a resolution terminating that interlocal services agreement effective October 1.

Diver expects to approach Belmar and Wall Township about entering a new interlocal agreement with Spring Lake Heights for municipal court. Wall Township currently shares its courtroom with Sea Girt, another town that Spring Lake Heights officials had contacted earlier this month about entering the existing interlocal agreement with Spring Lake.

However, Sea Girt officials turned down the offer by Spring Lake Heights and Spring Lake to enter their existing agreement. Instead, Sea Girt chose to continue sharing court services with Wall Township.

The total proposed budget now on the table is $5,028,388.83. That figure is 2.10 percent or $107,738.01 less than then the calendar year 2010 approved municipal budget of $5,136,126.83.

However, that budget calls for the 1.5-cent municipal tax rate hike to compensate for the loss of more than $6,600 in public and private grants to the town, flattened state aid at last year’s allotment of $399,325.00, and a $5.5 million drop in the total net assessed valuation of properties in town.

The total amount to be raised by taxation this calendar year is $3,734,718.60, which reflects an increase of $155,115.32 or 4.33 percent more than last year’s taxation amount of $3,579,603.28.

Overall, the proposed budget, if adopted, would levy municipal property taxes by an average of $68 this year according to figures released by the borough finance office.

Broken down, the owner of a home in the borough assessed at the average of $457,158.73 would pay $1,476.62 in municipal taxes during calendar year 2011. That amount is $68.57 or about 4.64 percent more than last year’s yearly tax bill of $1,408.05.

The figure breaks down to 32.5 cents per $100 of assessed valuation or 1.5 cents more than last year’s figure of 31 cents per $100 of assessed valuation, borough documents show.

A public hearing will precede the council’s final vote to adopting the budget.

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