Residents may see hike in municipal tax bill BY KATHY BARATTA Staff Writer MANALAPAN - Property owners are facing the prospect of an increase in the amount of money they will have to pay to support the municipal budget this year. Mayor Andrew Lucas announced at the March 14 meeting of the Township Committee that preliminary numbers indicate there could be a 16-cent increase in the municipal tax rate this year. The 16-cent increase is based on the 2006 tax rate of 47.37 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. However, because Manalapan underwent a property revaluation this year, the tax rate will actually drop. Nevertheless, because of higher assessed property values, some property owners will end up paying more in actual tax dollars. Lucas made the statement about the tax impact of the 2007 budget on March 14 in his first public comments about the new municipal budget. The committee members and municipal officials are in the process of developing the township's spending plan. In each of the past two years, the committee lowered the municipal tax rate. The 2006 budget totaled $28.6 million and raised $11.9 million in local taxes. The municipal tax rate was lowered from 47.40 to 47.37 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. That meant the owner of a home assessed at $200,000 paid $947 in municipal taxes in 2006, down from $948 in 2005. The owner of a home assessed at $300,000 paid $1,421 in municipal taxes in 2006, down from $1,422 in 2005. The owner of a home assessed at $400,000 paid $1,895 in municipal taxes in 2006, down from $1,896 in 2005. The owner of a home assessed at $500,000 paid $2,368 in municipal taxes in 2006, down from $2,370 in 2005. The municipal tax rate is one part of the overall property tax bill, which also includes Manalapan-Englishtown Regional School District taxes, Freehold Regional High School District taxes, Monmouth County taxes and several other assessments. Lucas said he and Committeeman Richard Klauber had submitted a tentative budget model to township administrator Tara Lovrich that reflected a possible 16-cent increase in the municipal tax rate (using 2006 figures). No other budget details were discussed. Lovrich will meet with township department heads to get their input as she puts together a proposed budget for a future introduction. Township Committeeman Joseph Locricchio was absent from the March 14 meeting. Lucas' comment about the looming increase in the tax rate came less than a year after the committee adopted the 2006 budget that cut the tax rate by a fraction of a cent. Committeewoman Michelle Roth had objected to that 2006 budget and voted against its adoption in May, saying it would "recklessly drain our cash surplus." Reading from a prepared statement, Roth said the township's fuel costs increased by 65 percent, heat, 58 percent, electricity, 20 percent, health insurance, 17 percent, and storm water management, 90 percent. Manalapan also paid an increase of $292,000 into state pension systems for public employees, police officers and firefighters. The pension payments will also increase from 2007 to 2009 as the state continues to shift the cost of civil service, police and fire pensions to municipalities, Roth said. At the same time, Roth also criticized budgeting for anticipated revenues, saying, "This year (2006) we are also counting on and spending revenue that we hope will come in from construction fees, instead of having this surplus available to us for [2007's] increasing expenses. This is not the prudent thing to do. What does that do to us for [2007]? Taxpayers in New Jersey need meaningful tax relief, not political stunts. I am uncomfortable with this [2006] budget because it has not considered enough ways to trim expenses to the minimum and ignored the expenses that we must face [in 2007]." Former committeeman Drew Shapiro also voted against the adoption of the 2006 budget. Lucas, Locricchio and Committeeman Anthony Gennaro voted in favor of the 2006 budget, adopting it in a 3-2 vote. In other business at the committee's March 14 meeting, township engineer Greg Valesi announced that the dredging of Holiday Lake, Pease Road, will be commencing. According to Valesi, the Monmouth County Mosquito Extermination Commission will do the initial work and the township will do the follow-up soil sampling. Lucas said there will be a bonus to the township in that the soil dredged from the lake, on Pease Road in the Holiday Park development, can be used as fill for the proposed expansion of the Manalapan Recreation Center.