The proposed 2019 budget calls for a 5.44 percent increase of the overall tax levy.
Moorestown Township residents are looking at a potential tax increase under the proposed 2019 municipal budget. The proposed tax rate of $0.42 per $100 of assessed value marks a 2 cent increase from last year’s rate of $0.40.
The average assessed home of $454,032 will pay $1,925.10 in local purpose taxes. This is a $90.81 increase over last year’s average assessed home tax bill. The overall 2019 levy is $17,180,773, which marks a 5.44 percent increase. The municipal portion of this tax rate is $1,743.48 while the library portion is $181.61, which marks an $81.73 and $9.08 increase respectively.
The total budget is $26,477,000, which is a 3.46 percent increase over 2018 appropriations. A 2018 tax appeal settlement with Macy’s and Lord & Taylor presented a new budget challenge, according to Township Manager Thomas Neff, who introduced the budget at last Monday night’s council meeting. The township owes $325,000 for the next five years, which equates to around a 2 percent tax increase to fund the settlement.
As they worked on the 2019 budget, township staff also had the normal inflation costs of salaries and benefits to take into account, Neff said. These costs constituted another 2 percent tax increase.
With those two costs in mind, township staff sought out ways to reduce costs where possible.
“We started out with an effort to find ways for efficiencies, for cost reductions to ameliorate those tax increases because nobody likes taxes, and we want to keep them as low as possible,” Neff said.
He said the township is replacing taxpayer-funded professionals with professionals whose services can be replaced by the state. While this constitutes a partial savings in 2019, Neff anticipates this could save the township $150,000 “over a longer period of time.”
The township is also cutting costs by eliminating its risk management consultant position. Neff said they didn’t feel the position was worth the nearly $25,000 they were spending each year when risks can often be mitigated at the staff level.
Neff said he’s also asking staff to seek free, local training to reduce the cost of overnight stays, and they’re looking to reduce the number of association memberships staff are involved in. The township is also eliminating its hard-copy periodical subscriptions in favor of free online web resources.
Staff also looked at how they can improve some of the township’s services. Over the last few years, public works has seen a reduction in staff. The proposed plan is to add staff to address projects such as stormwater management and other public works needs. The township is also looking to add enforcement officers to make sure abandoned house owners and other township code breakers are held accountable.
The proposed budget also calls for the addition of part-time staff at the permitting office. Neff said right now, permitting officers are only available during the day, which isn’t convenient for many residents’ schedules. Their plan is to add part-time staff who can inspect homes and businesses during the early morning and evening hours.
The budget also allocates more funding for capital infrastructure. Neff said, in the past, the township made good investments in its water treatment plants, but they need additional funds to complete the project. Various dilapidated roads in town are also in need of fixing, so the budget includes an increase in funding to the roads capital program.
Council has until May to adopt the municipal budget. For a full overview of the budget, visit www.moorestown.nj.us.
