(ELDON GRAHAM/The Sun)
Gloucester Township Council introduced the municipal budget at its recent meeting.
Gloucester Township residents will be happy to know there will be no municipal tax increase for 2019. The budget appropriations came in at $64,288,627.63, according to township manager Tom Cardis.
Cardis knows how difficult it is to manage a town as well as a budget.
“It’s always a challenge,” he said. “You have to match your revenues to your expenses, and then the taxes are the amount to be raised by taxation, so you gotta find money, you gotta find revenue.”
The council was optimistic with the news that there would be no increase.
Council President Orlando Mercado was pleased with the news of the budget outcome.
“The fact that there is not an increase is something that I like,” said Mercado.
Mercado knows the importance of managing a budget to better benefit the town.
“The capital budget is used for a lot of our street improvements, sidewalks and recreational use. And then there’s our operational budget with some of those things are included as well but that’s the daily operation on the town,” said Mercado.
The Council will take their time to go over the budget before they decide whether or not to approve it.
In other news:
The Blackwood West Redevelopment Plan was amended to allow that lots 1, 2 , 3, 6 and 10 require that 100 of those affordable rental units be reserved for low- and moderate-income households as defined by the Council on Affordable Housing. The criteria can include veterans, families of four or a person making less than $46,000 a year. Thirteen of the affordable units will be very low-income units.
The council will vote on authorizing an application for the Preserve New Jersey Historic Preservation Fund for a grant to remove a 1960s bathroom on the first floor of the Gabreil Daveis Tavern and stabilization of the wall once it’s removed. The grant is worth up to $150,000.
Council’s next meeting is scheduled for Monday, May 13.
