COURT HOUSE – Middle Township Committee approved a $345,000 emergency appropriation July 6 for its 2022 budget just two months after the budget was adopted.
Mayor Timothy Donohue explained that the chief financial officer erred in not budgeting for the county payment due for county dispatch services.
“It was a mistake he shouldn’t have made, but he did,” Donohue said.
The municipality only recently transitioned to county dispatch and while the budget reflected the reduction of costs for the in-house dispatch operation that ended, it failed to pick up the new expense associated with being part of the county process.
The resolution states that the “emergency appropriation shall be provided for in full in the 2023 budget.”
Donohue was asked during public comment if the carryover of $345,000 as an obligation in next year’s budget meant an almost certain tax increase. Donohue responded by pointing to the American Rescue Plan relief funds that are part of the 2022 budget and will not be available in 2023. He admitted that next year’s budget will have challenges, but no one can say now if a tax increase will be necessary.
Five other municipalities are part of the county dispatch in 2022. Each of the other five towns budgeted payments for the service ranging from $195,000 for Cape May to $600,000 in the Lower Township budget.
Other participants in county dispatch and their budgeted amounts are Avalon ($310,000), Stone Harbor ($269,000), and Wildwood Crest ($265,000).
