VILLAS – Lower Township Manager James Ridgway presented a zero-tax-increase budget (http://bit.ly/2SqzXDx) to Lower Township Council Feb. 3.
Ridgway said the zero increase was accomplished with major projects underway, and the elimination of massive amounts of debt.
The local purpose tax rate is unchanged for 2020, at 58.3 cents per $100 of assessed value. The local purpose tax equals $583 for every $100,000 of assessed property value.
The budget for 2020 is $30.5 million, up $1.8 million from last year, with a tax levy at $21 million, below the legal spending cap and the 2% levy cap.
Ridgway said the municipality started with a surplus of almost $8.5 million, and after applying $4.2 million to this year’s budget, the surplus balance is at $4.3 million.
“Projections anticipate fully restoring the fund balance used in this budget. We feel confident using this amount of surplus, and our bond rating continues to be very solid at this time,” Ridgway said.
The total assessed value of real property, on which the tax rate is based, is $3.6 billion, an increase of $14 million; $365,744 equals one cent on the tax rate. The 2020 budget uses a 97.15% rate to compute the reserve for uncollected taxes in 2020.
The tax collection rate, for 2019, was 98.98%, which was a record collection amount in Lower Township, and exceeded budget projections.
Salary and wages are the largest expenditure in the budget, at just over $11 million, up $276,500 over 2019.
The municipality expects to pay $3.2 million in debt service, $678,000 more than in 2019.
Ridgway said costs to the municipality would decrease over time.
“We are very optimistic about our shared services relationship with the County of Cape May, regarding county dispatch and our new public safety building. Dispatch continues to grow with other municipalities coming on board, while our costs will be decreasing moving forward due to this growth. Our utilities in the new facility have also decreased dramatically due to energy efficiency and proper utilization of space,” Ridgway said.
He also said municipal events, like the Independence Day festivities, the nine-week summer concert series and Christmas and Veterans Day parades are fully funded in the budget.
Ridgway thanked department heads, Chief Financial Officer Lauren Read and Auditor Leon Costello, of Ford Scott Associates, for six months of hard work forming the budget.
The public hearing on the budget is scheduled for the March 2 council meeting; however, the budget can’t be adopted until after Gov. Phil Murphy introduces the state budget in mid-March.
To contact Carl Price, email cprice@cmcherald.com.
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