The Medford Township municipal budget was adopted at last week’s council meeting with no tax increase.
Council voted unanimously to approve the $19,995,721 budget. It is the second consecutive year the municipal budget was approved with a flat tax rate.
Township manager Chris Schultz said council was able to reach a flat tax rate by making changes in the application of debt service and slightly reducing health-care costs.
When Schultz transmitted the budget to council in February, he proposed a 3-cent tax increase. The increase would have resulted in an increase of $95.25 for the average assessed home of $328,449.
Following the transmission, council held a pair of budget workshops to make adjustments so residents would not have an increase in municipal taxes.
One notable increase in the budget was the addition of $50,000 to help pay for a new tax assessment program. The proposed program will have township properties inspected by the tax assessor once every four years to determine if a property needs to be reassessed.
Schultz said more information will be released in the near future. Tax assessor Joseph Rahman will have town hall meetings for the public to learn more about the program.
“That funding allows him to hire part-time inspectors to help him do the job,” Schultz said.
The township also added a slight increase in its snow removal line item. In addition to the township’s budget for snow removal, there is also a snow trust fund that carries over each winter.
After one of the snowiest winters on record, Schultz said the township went through a little less than half of its snow trust fund.
“The trust is still fairly healthy for next year,” he said. “We bumped the line item up a little bit.”
In other news:
• After a slight delay, council introduced an ordinance on first reading to regulate donations bins in the township. Mayor Chris Buoni nearly pulled the ordinance off the agenda after no one originally motioned to introduce the ordinance. Councilman Jeffrey Beenstock then moved to introduce it.
The ordinance mirrors the regulations in the state statute and adds a fee for donation bins in the township. However, questions were raised by a few council members. Beenstock questioned the definition of charitable organizations, while Deputy Mayor Chuck Watson remarked some of the definitions were a little broad.
Councilman Randy Pace voted no on introducing the ordinance, maintaining his stance against having a township ordinance on the matter.
“Quite frankly, I don’t think any action is required by the township other than enforcement of the state statute,” he said.
• An ordinance on first reading was added to the agenda midway through the meeting. Schultz asked council to repeal a long-standing but little-known ordinance allowing private homeowners to ask the township for assistance with dredging. Schultz called the ordinance outmoded. He said there is no record of the township ever utilizing the ordinance.
“We have no record among township employees as to why this came about,” he said.
Council introduced an ordinance repealing the dredging code. Schultz also suggested forming a sub-committee in the future to review the township code for other outdated ordinances.
• The next Medford Township council meeting is scheduled for May 6 at 7:30 p.m. in the Public Safety Building.
