DENNISVILLE – The Dennis Township administration, led by Mayor Zeth Matalucci, introduced the municipality’s 2019 budget at the March 26 Committee meeting. General appropriations total $4.8 million, which represents an increase of less than half of a percent over 2018’s total general appropriations.
According to Chief Financial Officer Jessica Bishop, “When setting goals for the 2019 budget, the mayor and committee made preserving essential government functions and lessening the burden on taxpayers their priorities.” She noted that “the small increase in total general appropriations can be attributed” to a balance between increases and decreases.
The increases include:
* A contractual 2 percent in increase in salaries.
* Interest on the bond anticipation note authorized in 2018, due in 2019.
* An increase in legal and engineering fees for contracted projects.
* Implementation of an information technology program to increase productivity and security.
Decreases, according to Bishop, include, in the category of “salary/wage and benefits:”
* An initiative to backfill supervisory positions vacated by retirement with qualified employees currently employed by Dennis Township.
* New employees hired on a part-time basis for non-essential positions versus full-time with benefits.
* Committee members voted to decrease their salaries in 2018.
* A 7.6-percent decrease in the state Health Benefits Program (SHBP) overall rate for the “Local Government Group.”
Bishop further explained that under the category of “special emergency,” emergency authorizations were paid off in 2018 and for “insurance, the township opted to apply a 2018 Atlantic County Municipal Joint Insurance Fund (ACMJIF) dividend in the amount of $36,739 as a credit toward the 2019 ACMJIF assessment.”
The amount to be raised from taxation for support of the municipal budget is slightly more than $2 million. The 2019 municipal purpose tax rate is $0.23 per $100 of assessed value, which is the same rate as 2018.
According to Bishop, with an increase in the net valuation, Dennis was able to balance the current year budget without increasing taxes over the 2018 rate.
The final hearing on the budget, with public comment opportunity, is slated for April 23. Full details of the budget are available at https://bit.ly/2CHk6t0
To contact Camille Sailer, email csailer@cmcherald.com.
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