Middle Township Introduces Budget, Local Purpose Tax Rate up 5 Percent

COURT HOUSE – Middle Township Committee introduced its 2017 municipal budget March 20. The budget calls for an increase in the local tax levy of 5 percent moving to $.475 from $.452 per $100 of assessed value.  
Fred Caltabiano, of Bowman & Company, calculated that the average home in the township is assessed at slightly over $240,000. The increase, he said, would represent an extra $56 in taxes on that average home.
In 2016, the municipal local purpose tax represented 27 percent of the total tax bill for property owners with school district, county, fire district and library components making up the remaining 73 percent. 
According to the budget document, township ratables increased by approximately $9 million, with total ratables valued at just over $2.7 billion.
The budget utilized over $300,000 from the cap bank still leaving a cap bank balance of $850,000.
The township’s fund balance, often termed the surplus, is being tapped to cover about 8 percent of the budget, reflecting a 77 percent utilization of the fund balance total. That is the lowest utilization percentage since 2012.
Major Factors
Chief Financial Officer Susan Quinones and Caltabiano presented the $21-million budget. The budget represents an increase of about $644,103 over 2016. Caltabiano made the point that six items accounted for 82 percent of the budget increase. 
Health insurance and liability insurance costs represented 34 percent of the budget growth from 2016. State pension expense accounted for another 11 percent.
The increase in fees for the township’s use of the county animal shelter was part of the change in the way the county charges municipalities for their share of the shelter’s budget.
It caused a rift last year when a new formula was introduced which sharply increased the amount required from Middle Township. 
The 2017 budget contains an increase of $20,000 for the cost of animal shelter participation.
Police salaries increased by $112,568, representing under a 2.5 percent increase over 2016. 
The size of the labor costs for police, the only township labor category representing 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week coverage, makes even a slight increase visible in the budget.
PILOT Impact
A new impact on the 2017 budget came from the decision to budget for sharing the funds received as Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) from township low-income housing developers.
The 2016 budget assumed that the PILOT funds, $104,000 in 2016, would remain with the township. The decision caused a controversy and a subsequent agreement to share funds with the school district and Fire Districts 1 and 2, Court House and Rio Grande, respectively.
The 2017 budget accounts for the sharing of PILOT funds producing a required increase in the budget of $66,702.
Over 75 other items in the budget account for $112,656 of the overall increase.
The budget also reflects a continuation of last year’s decision to add $200,000 to the capital improvement fund which received no contributions from 2012 through 2015. The fund, which once held a balance of $2.5 million, has seen that balance drop to $109,000 in 2015.
The 2017 budget continues efforts from 2016 to bolster the fund and “build it back up,” said Caltabiano.
Next Steps
With the budget introduced, the next step is a public hearing April 17 at 6 p.m. in the Middle Township Municipal Building meeting room.
The introduced budget is available here.
To contact Vince Conti, email vconti@cmcherald.com.