At Monday night Cherry Hill Township Council meeting, Mayor Chuck Cahn said residents will a decrease in municipal taxes in 2018.
After five consecutive years of having no municipal tax increase, Cherry Hill Township residents could see a reduction in their municipal tax bill in 2018.
Mayor Chuck Cahn announced at Monday’s council meeting residents could expect a tax cut as part of the Fiscal Year 2018 budget. According to preliminary projections from the township, the average Cherry Hill homeowner could have a reduction of approximately $22 next year.
If approved, it will be the first time residents have received a municipal tax cut since Cahn took office in 2011. In the previous five municipal budgets adopted during Cahn’s time in office, the municipal tax rate was kept flat.
“I’m thrilled to be able to share this news and to see years of fiscal responsibility and smart planning paying dividends for all of our residents,” Cahn said.
Cahn credited increased ratables, prudent planning, a strong credit rating and fiscal responsibility as reasons the township will be able to reduce taxes for the upcoming year.
Members of council praised the work of Cahn and township staff for being able to keep municipal taxes stable over the past six years.
“I am proud to be a part of council and to work with Mayor Cahn on maintaining a stable tax levy and a slight decrease in the tax levy now going into year six,” Councilwoman Carole Roskoph said. “It’s a tribute to the staff here at Town Hall.”
More details regarding the Fiscal Year 2018 budget are not yet available. Cahn noted it is still early in the budget process, but more details will be released later in the summer. The 2018 budget is likely to be introduced to council in August, with a second reading and public hearing likely coming in September.
Last Monday, council approved a resolution adopting the preliminary tax levy for Fiscal Year 2018. State law requires towns operating on a fiscal year budget to approve a preliminary tax levy to calculate the third and fourth installments of property taxes and fund municipal services for the fiscal year’s first six months.
In other news:
• Council adopted an ordinance on second reading increasing the maximum salary for special class one or class two law enforcement officers.
The ordinance increases the maximum hourly pay rate for the officers from $21 per hour to $32 per hour. The officers are part-time employees used for security during municipal court, township meetings and at the Cherry Hill Public Library.
• Council honored a group of Rosa International Middle School students with a proclamation at the start of Monday’s meeting. Samuel Bitman, Shayna Herzfeld, Asha Mohapatra and Gabrielle O’Brien were honored for finishing in second place at the National History Day national competition in Washington, D.C., on June 15. The students completed a documentary on Josiah DuBois, an attorney from South Jersey who exposed the U.S. State Department’s failure to provide visas for Jews trying to escape from Europe during World War II and helped create a war refugee board to bring Jewish refugees to the U.S. The documentary can be viewed at www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ck3m0YBFziY.
• Council also honored Rosa rising seventh grader Shruthika Padhy for qualifying for the finals in the Scripps National Spelling Bee in May. Padhy finished in seventh place in the competition.
