VILLAS – Manager Jim Ridgway delivered the following proposed budget for Lower Township:
“I am required to deliver a Working Document of our proposed 2016 Budget to council by February 12 and the Council must approve the Budget by April 22, 2016.
I have met with all the department heads and the township chief financial officer, along with the Township Auditor Leon Costello for the purpose of verifying compliance with the State of New Jersey spending caps law, tax levy cape law and other budget regulations. The township manager’s proposed operating budgets are compliant with the tax levy cap law and the original spending caps law. Our levy cap of $20,524,138.92 vs. $20,086,897.95 reflects that we are $437,240.00 below the cap.
The township completed 2015 with a surplus of 5,248,975.23. Of that balance, $2,180,000 is being applied to this year’s budget, leaving a balance of $3,068,975.23.
Projections anticipate fully restoring the balance used in this budget. We feel confident using this amount of surplus because operations have left it at a historically high level. This should improve our already good Bond Rating in the future.
The tax collection rate for 2015 was 98.56 percent compared with 98.32 percent in 2014. This collection rate added over $1.3 million to the surplus and represents the highest collection rate in 20 years. All revenue collections exceeded the projections for 2015 including BOCA which collected in excess of $500,000.
We are presenting to Council a Budget with no Tax Increase for the 2016 year or a 0 percent increase budget.
Our liability insurance was lowered due to our experience factor and this reduced our liability insurance by $47,000. Other options employed to balance this budget were shared services throughout the township and neighboring districts, attrition combinations through a mature employment population, and with this budget the taxpayers should see no reduction in the current services provided nor will it harm the financial stability of the township in the future.
We have planned for an increase in services in our office of Emergency Management, our BOCA offices and our Tax Assessment offices.
The total assessed value of real property upon which the tax rate is based is $3,614,987,478 compared to $3,605,399,621 in 2015, an increase of $9,587,857. Every $361,498 of the amount to be raised by taxation for the 2016 budget equals one cent on the tax rate.
This budget fully funds our Independence Celebration of fireworks, carnival rides, and live entertainment along with our shared concert series with the DRBA.
Each council member has been provided a 2016 budget notebook that includes individual department requests for other expenses and capital, salaries and wages, along with revenue reports.
This is not the adoption of Lower Township’s budget. This is a working document that belongs to the township council.
Lauren Read, our CFO has worked very hard in assisting with the presentation of these documents.
Lastly we have a well planned capital program in that we know how we are going to fund certain projects in the future and to make sure that these capital improvements don’t affect the Taxpayers in a negative fashion.”
The public hearing is scheduled for March 7 at 7 p.m. A budget summary will be published in the Cape May Star & Wave. Copies will be available on the Township website as well as in the clerk’s office at located in township hall, 2600 Bayshore Road.
