Taxes to rise 3.5 cents under $18.2M budget Pensions, LOSAP add up to average increase of $52.50 BY SUE M. MORGAN Staff Writer EATONTOWN — Homeowners will pay an average of $52.50 more in property taxes this year under the $18.2 million municipal budget for 2005 adopted by the Borough Council. This year’s spending plan, which included appropriations for proposed capital improvements, the phasing in of pension programs, and the new Length of Service Awards Program (LOSAP), represents a 3.21 percent increase amounting to $501,519 more than the $17.7 million municipal budget adopted for calendar year 2004, according to Borough Administrator Michael L. Trotta. To support the total increase, the property tax rate will rise by 3.5 cents, from 91.1 to 94.6 cents, per $100 of assessed valuation, according to budget documents distributed by Trotta. As a result, taxes on a home assessed at $150,000, the borough average, would rise by $52.50 from last year’s bill of $1,366.50 to $1,419. No one from the public spoke during the hearing on the budget, which preceded the council’s unanimous vote. The total amount to be raised by the levying of property taxes this year stands at $10,120,534, amounting to $429,648 or 4.43 percent more than the $9,690,886 in property tax revenue collected in 2004, borough documents show. Municipal taxes account for 55.4 percent of the borough’s total revenues for the budget. Assessed valuations rose by 0.82 percent from $1.061 billion to $1,070, billion, an increase of $8.75 million in 2005, according to Trotta’s documents. Altogether, salaries and benefits, including those negotiated by collective bargaining agreements, comprise almost 57 percent of the total budget. At $7.7 million, salaries and wages, account for the largest share of the budget, or 42.4 percent, while the $2.6 million for benefits amounts to 14.3 percent, the second greatest appropriation, borough documents show. This calendar year, the borough has realized a $60,000 reduction in the overall cost of health benefits, according to Trotta. The overall salary increase of $265,386 is 3.54 percent more than what was allotted in the 2004 spending plan. The administration has negotiated salary increments for its three bargaining units at 4 percent for 2005, according to borough documents. Another $2.1 million is appropriated for operating and statutory expenses, representing an increase of 9.93 percent or $556,336 over 2004, borough documents state. The borough’s operating expenses comprise about 33.7 percent of the total budget. This year’s reserve for uncollected taxes will increase by $3,587 to $2.18 million, coming to 12 percent of the total appropriations. Eatontown will put aside $122,000 as a down payment for capital improvements, an increase of $92,000 over last year. The borough’s debt service, meanwhile, has decreased by $528,700 or by 27.1 percent to $1,421,190. At $1.6 million, capital and debt service account for 9.3 percent of the total appropriations, borough documents show. Capital projects in process or under consideration by the borough include the removal of underground storage tanks from the Eatontown Community Center, land acquisition for the proposed Main Street redevelopment, acquiring the Stella and Capilupi farms, road improvements, and entry into an interlocal agreement with Tinton Falls to use the Pop Warner Football fields in that borough. Other major increases include $102,393 for the second of five phase-in years of the Police and Firemen’s Retirement System (PFRS), $44,721 to cover the first of five phase-in years of the Public Employees Retirement System (PERS), and $70,000 for the first year of LOSAP, which was approved by borough voters in November. Additional increases include $37,000 for reclamation fees and fuel charged by the Monmouth County Improvement Authority, and $33,327 for emergency snow removal for this past winter, borough documents show The rate of tax collection rose to 98.10 percent in 2004, up by .09 percent in 2003, Trotta noted. The adopted budget is $616,002 below the state-mandated budget cap of 2.5 percent. The council voted earlier this year to increase that cap by 1 percent to 3.5 percent, which allows for the banking of another $104,326. The total bank of $720,328 can be carried forward for use in the 2006 municipal budget, Trotta explained.