No Increase in Municipal Tax Rate in 2011 Budget

Residents with a home assessed at the township average will see a slight decrease in their municipal taxes this year and no increase in the municipal purposes tax rate, according to the budget the Township Council introduced unanimously.

The budget totals $38,897,547.14, reflecting a tax rate of 50.2 cents for $100 of assessed valuation. The owner of a single-family home at the average assessed value of $201,000 would pay $1,007.31 in municipal taxes, a decrease of $1.61 cents in 2011.

Those numbers do not include the school tax rates of the Berkeley Township and Central Regional School districts or taxes paid to Ocean County, which are added to the overall tax rate.

“There’s no fat in the budget,” Mayor Jason J. Varano said at the March 8 Township Council meeting. “We worked hard to bring this down. [We] even made a cut in the tax levy.  We are still looking to make further cuts…personnel who might be retiring.  Maybe we’ll qualify for some additional grants.”

Taxes on the average assessed home will drop by $1.61 this year. The amount to be raised by taxation will drop to $25,759,818, a decrease of $157,802 over last year's $25,917,621.

The budget is under the state-imposed tax levy cap by $1,943,343 and under the state spending cap by $3,656,866, according to figures provided by the township administration.

"This budget maintains all essential services, reduces employees through attrition while not increasing taxes," Council President Karen Davis said. "It provides the delicate balance our residents expect during these uncertain financial times. Everyone must tighten their belts, including government on all levels."

However, garbage collection will not return to twice a week during the summer months, the mayor said.

Township officials were able to keep the tax rate stable by having municipal employees contribute to their health care coverage, budget cuts in each department and decreased staff due to attrition, Davis said.

Other budget challenges included a $510,857 hike in state pension contribution costs and a $116,165 jump in contractual snow removal costs, due to the heavy snowfalls this winter. The reserve for uncollected taxes rose $1,001,072, since the township tax collection rate fell from roughly 98 percent to 97 percent, Varano said today.

The township will hopefully receive the same amount of state aid as last year - roughly $4.3 million, the mayor said today.

"We are extremely  happy with that," Varano said.

Township officials started work on the 2011 budget right after the 2010 budget was adopted last summer, the mayor said.

The administration met with each department head in September and explained the state-mandated 2 percent tax levy cap.

"We told them to cut your spending," he said. "All of the budgets came in at 2 percent or even less. They knew what was going on economically."

Samuel J.  Cammarato, president of the Berkeley Township Taxpayers Coalition, said at the meeting he had mixed feelings about the budget.

"I’m very happy it hasn’t been raised,” he said. “But too many people have had their property taxes increased. What we need is a decrease. It just prolongs the pain.”

A number of Berkeley residents - especially those who own waterfront property -  saw their tax bills skyrocket in 2010 following the township's first revaluation in nearly 20 years.Those residents have been battling their real estate assessments done by Certified Valuations Inc.

Township Tax Assessor Eric L. Zanetti has said many residents saw their tax bills drop in the  wake of the revaluation. But others saw their tax bills jump – especially those who own waterfront property. The township has since hired a separate firm to review Certified’s work.

Berkeley Township Board of Education Vice President John A. Bacchione - who is running for a council seat under the Republican ticket - attended the meeting. He told council members that the school board  will not raise taxes this year.

The Berkeley Board of Education introduced its budget earlier this month.  It called for a two percent tax increase. But board members stressed that the figure could change before the budget adoption and public hearing slated for the March 23 meeting

The public hearing on the municipal budget will be held sometime in April, Varano said.