By MELISSA DIPENTO
Mt. Laurel Council met last week to discuss the budget in detail at its work session meeting.
Township Manager Jennifer Blumenthal said to satisfy the state-mandated 2 percent cap, the township would need to raise taxes by $387,878, or about one cent per homeowner.
“Part of the good news from the budget, is we were able to rejuvenate about $4 million of the $6 million surplus that we put in last year’s budget. And that directly came from initiatives that we did last year,” Blumenthal said.
The township, however, needs to raise an additional $3,292,249, Blumenthal said, to keep township services running at the current levels.
“However, there is still $2 million dollars that we didn’t rejuvenate, and when were looking at that, really, that is made up of some of the one-time revenues that we put into the budget last year,” Blumenthal said. “Going forward, you can see that, what we end up having for the 2011 year is a deficit of approximately $3.3 million.”
Council is considering the option of a referendum, which would give residents the opportunity to vote to exceed the 2 percent cap.
At the meeting, Mayor Jim Keenan urged Blumenthal to prepare a budget that would show what services would be cut and what jobs would be lost by using a budget that respects the 2 percent cap.
Last week, Blumenthal was in the process of preparing a budget that would satisfy the cap and show which services and positions would need to be cut. She was expected to present her findings last night at a special budgetary meeting.
Last year, Blumenthal said, nearly 15 positions in the township were cut. In 2008 she said, the township employed 233 people. That number is less than 200 now, Blumenthal said.
“We’re close to a bare bones staff,” Blumenthal said.
In 2007, she added, the Police Department had 77 on staff. Currently, there are 58 people in the department.
The township is also looking at the option of transferring the library to the county system.
Township Attorney Timothy Prime pointed out to council the declining number of ratables, both non-residential and residential, in the township. Ratables are a source of revenue for the township, garnered through property taxes.
Prime added that the biggest decrease in ratables has been felt in non-residential sector.
Township Auditor Robert Marrone said Mt. Laurel, like most municipalities in the region, has felt the effects of the economy.
He and Prime attributed a slow real estate market, along with a loss of ratables, to the township’s loss of revenue.
“We don’t have a spending problem, we have a revenue problem,” Marrone said.
