Veterans Advisory Board Takes Oath, Middle Municipal Budget Adopted

COURT HOUSE – Middle Township Veterans Advisory Board is a reality. Township Committee adopted an ordinance May 4 creating the board, and Mayor Timothy Donohue swore in its members. The volunteer board is advisory to committee, but the hope is that it will have the time, energy and commitment to pursue and “improve the quality of life for Middle Township veterans.”
One criterion in the selection of members was to have a final board which represented several different eras of service. The board chair is Maureen Harden-Lozier, who served over 30 years in active and reserve status in the Navy Nurse Corps. Additional members include Ed Dillio, Joe Griffies, Vince DePrinzio, Allyn Penkethman, Butch Hamer, Francey Burke, Fred Trasatti, Jr., Bill Hawk, Tony Buero, Howard Trout and Krystel Arana.
The board will meet on the fourth Wednesday of each month at 7 p.m. in the second floor conference room at Township Hall.
Coast Guard Honored
Committee also presented a proclamation to Coast Guard Training Center commanding officer Capt. Todd Prestidge concerning the county’s recent designation as a Coast Guard Community. The presentation came just days before the May 8 kickoff of the Coast Guard Community Festival celebrating the designation, only the second such in the nation. Prestidge said the designation demonstrates that “the Coast Guard understands what goes on here in Cape May County.” In similar ceremonies at municipal bodies across the county, Prestidge has repeatedly called Cape May County the “Coast Guard’s home.”
Budget
The 2015 budget for Middle Township is final. Normally when governing bodies passes municipal budgets, the budgets are subjected to review by the director of the division of local government services to ensure that they meet state requirements. Municipalities in “sound fiscal condition,” which includes Middle Township, are allowed to assume the responsibility and conduct self-examination of the budget resolution.
Middle Township completed that process May 4, altering the budget slightly but making no change to the amount to be raised by taxation. The small change was an increase of $17,500 in the budget for legal services and an increase of a like amount in the budget surplus used to cover the rise in projected expense.
Support Transparency Act
In a related action, the committee passed a resolution supporting the Transparency Act of 2015. The bill, being considered in Trenton, is intended to provide greater clarity on the components of a resident’s tax bill and to provide a means for the sharing of the burden of assessment appeal refunds across all local taxing districts.
The sponsors of the bill intend that this act will remind municipal property owners “that while a municipality, by law, is charged with the responsibility to issue tax bills on behalf of not only itself, but all taxing districts (county, school district, fire district, etc.), the amount of property taxes attributed to municipal purposes generally does not make up the largest portion of the property tax bill.”
The bill also requires that the other taxing districts share the burden of paying for property tax refunds.
The benefit to municipalities is two-fold in that it allows the municipal government to demonstrate its efforts to hold the line on new taxes, which Middle Township did this year, and it eases the burden of appeals on municipal budgets.
To contact Vince Conti, email vconti@cmcherald.com.