Dennis OKs Municipal Budget, Local Tax Rate Unchanged

DENNISVILLE – Dennis Township Committee met May 3 and unanimously approved adoption of its 2016 $4.5-million municipal budget. After application of all revenue items, the amount to be raised by taxes will be about $1.9 million. Thus the municipal tax rate remains 21.4 cents per $100 of assessed value. 
“We are always working for a zero increase; each year it gets more difficult though since the previous year was so low. Everyone has their hands in our pockets and we want to make certain that Dennis Township is not one of those to our taxpayers,” commented Deputy Mayor Brian O’Connor.
Highlights of the budget were that on the revenue side delinquent tax payments are down 13.43 percent and on the appropriations side debt service has been decreased 94.29 percent. There were no comments or questions from the public to raise any concerns.
On its regular agenda, committee unanimously approved two spending measures. The first ordinance provided for the appropriation of $60,000 to acquire an ambulance for $25,000 and additionally make improvements to the municipal buildings HVAC system at a cost of $35,000. Both measures will be paid out of the capital improvement fund and elicited no public comments.
For the other spending measure, committee unanimously passed a resolution which awarded Ricky Slade Construction a contract to install speed humps on Paper Mill Road.
In answering a resident’s question township Engineer John Gibson explained, “About six to eight months ago, residents along that road submitted a petition to the township with signatures totaling, I believe, nearly 100 percent of all who live there. The minimum we need to move forward with installing speed humps is 75 percent. I then went out to get bids which came back over budget, so we reduced the number of speed bumps to install from seven to three which will cost about $8,800. The end of this week I’ll go out with spray paint and mark where the humps are to go which probably will be at either end of the street and one in the middle avoiding any driveways and the church parking lot. Then residents can let me know of any input although we need to move forward on this project.”
Committee member Julie Fry-DeRose announced that she had learned of an Atlantic City Electric program which will be advantageous to those who use it. “Atlantic City Electric has advertised they will come to your house to pick up any unwanted refrigerator or freezer, haul it away for free and also give the owner $50. This is a great deal,” she summed up.
Committee member Lisa Salimbene mentioned that five township senior citizens went to the primary school to read to the pre-K and kindergarten children.
“The children and school administration loved this intergenerational project and they’re still talking about it even though it happened last week. We’re hoping to make this an established program next year and have the seniors read to the children on a more regular basis,” Salimbene said.
Salimbene also reported that due to conservation efforts, the township’s primary school is the location of a bluebird nest with white eggs. “Due to loss of habitat the numbers of bluebirds are decreasing but one volunteer set up boxes for the birds to lay their eggs and we’ve had success!” she said.
Mayor John Murphy concluded the meeting by referring to the active shooting drills planned at the township’s school.
“I wanted to let everyone know that there is no issue at the school with having these drills. It’s actually the State Police who lead us as to what we should be doing. Committee takes care of the township and the school board is responsible for the schools and politics should not enter into how our schools are run since we have the utmost mutual respect between the school board and committee,” he said.
To contact Camille Sailer, email csailer@cmcherald.com.