May 13 public hearing set for Freehold budget

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BY CLARE MARIE CELANO Staff Writer
FREEHOLD — In a year that holds a bleak financial outlook for the state, according to Freehold Borough Mayor Michael Wilson, municipal officials have introduced a $14 million budget for 2010.

The budget was introduced at a Borough Council meeting on April 5. A public hearing on the budget is set for May 13. The council may vote to adopt the budget following the public hearing.

Speaking at the April 5 meeting, Wilson said Freehold Borough, like most towns in New Jersey, will see its state aid reduced this year. The borough will receive a cut of $321,000 in its state aid.

“This means that over the past three fiscal periods we have seen our financial aid diminish by 35 percent. However, instead of bemoaning the depth of these cuts, we simply decided to take charge and make a lean operation even leaner,” Wilson said.

“In fact, we have been anticipating the need to make tough decisions over the past few years leading up to this time of fiscal reckoning,” the mayor said.

Wilson said strategies to hold the line on the budget were taken, including changing refuse collection contractors, not replacing employees who retired, changing employee health insurance providers and transferring the Freehold Fire Department’s dispatch operation to Monmouth County.

The 2010 municipal budget as proposed totals $14,086,384 and will be supported by a local tax levy of $8,533,284. Freehold Borough will receive $1,250,000 in state aid in 2010.

According to information provided by borough officials, the municipal tax rate will rise 3.5 cents from 75.6 to 79.1 cents per $100 of assessed valuation.

That means the owner of a home that is assessed at $150,000 will pay $1,186 in municipal taxes in 2010 (up from $1,134 in 2009.




The owner of a home that is assessed at the borough average of $259,000 will pay $1,977 in municipal taxes in 2010 (up from $1,890 in 2009).

The owner of a home that is assessed at $450,000 will pay $3,559 in municipal taxes in 2010 (up from $3,402 in 2009).

Municipal taxes are one part of a property owner’s overall tax bill, which also includes Freehold Borough K-8 School District taxes, Freehold Regional High School District taxes, Monmouth County taxes and other assessments.

Freehold Borough’s 2009 budget totaled $14.2 million and was supported by a local tax levy of $8.1 million and $1.57 million in state aid.

Freehold Borough’s 2008 budget totaled $14 million and was supported by a local tax levy of $7.7 million and $1.6 million in state aid.

The municipal tax rate in 2008 was 71.8 cents per $100 of assessed valuation and the owner of a home that was assessed at $259,000 paid about $1,860 in municipal taxes in 2008.

Major deviations in the 2010 budget, according to Borough Administrator Joseph Bellina, are the $321,000 reduction in state aid.

Bellina said pension payments have increased by $374,000 (police pensions are up $303,355 and public employee pensions are up $71,610). Group health insurance is up $136,000 and workers compensation costs are up $30,000.

Police salaries and wages are down $12,870. Bellina said total salaries and wages are down $323,000. Refuse collection and disposal is down $121,000 and police “other expenses” are down $15,000. The total operating budget is down $76,662 from 2009.


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[BrianSullivan]

Just a reminder that this meeting is tonight.
I believe@ 7 PM

[admin]

www.app.com/article/20100514/NEWS/5140357/1285/LOCAL09/Freehold-Borough-adopts-budget-taxes-raised

FREEHOLD — Mayor Michael Wilson and Borough Council members struck a somber note Thursday as they adopted a 2010 municipal budget that will raise taxes by about $91 for the average homeowner.




The financial outlook for New Jersey can be defined as "bleak, at best," Wilson told a small crowd of seven people — including two reporters — at the budget hearing.

Freehold has been promised $321,574 less in state aid this year, which Wilson said adds up to a 35 percent reduction in aid over the past three fiscal periods.

To cut costs, officials changed the borough's refuse-collection contractors, decided not to replace employees who retired and switched employee health-insurance providers, Wilson said.

Non-union employees also are taking a wage freeze this year, Business Administrator Joseph Bellina has said.

"The council. . . has been cultivating a culture of frugality with our employees and department heads for some time. . . . Every department in the borough is being scrutinized," said Councilman George Schnurr, who sits on the council's finance committee.

One cost-cutting measure in the budget that has proved controversial is the decision to transition fire-dispatching services to the county, a move that borough officials say will result in approximately $140,000 in annual savings.

Former Fire Department President Reggie Sims reiterated his frustration with that decision Thursday and questioned what he thinks are inequities in funding.

"I'm not against the decision . . . I'm against the way it was handled," Sims said.

The budget adopted Thursday totals $14,086,384, down $76,632 from 2009, Bellina said. Taxpayers will be responsible for $8,533,284 of that amount, up $414,901 from 2009.

That translates to a local-purposes tax rate of 79.1 cents per $100 of assessed value, an increase of 3.5 cents. Taxes for a homeowner with property assessed at the borough average of $259,676 would be $2,054, up about $91.

Also factored into the budget are rising pension, workers' compensation and health benefit payments, Bellina has said.
Kim Predham: