Town's budget expected to be introduced May
Owner of average home in Manalapan facing $210 increase
BY KATHY BARATTA
Staff Writer

Manalapan

MANALAPAN - With another meeting scheduled for tonight (May 2) to get public input into budget discussions, the Township Committee disclosed that there will likely be two positions eliminated when Manalapan's 2007 municipal budget totaling $29.5 million is formally introduced May 9.

Speaking after the committee's April 25 meeting, Mayor Andrew Lucas said officials are in the process of restructuring Manalapan's engineering and parks and recreation departments.

"This is strictly a proposal to streamline our operation and it may include two job eliminations," he said.

The new municipal tax rate for 2007 will be formally announced at the May 9 budget introduction. The new tax rate will reflect the revaluation of all property in Manalapan that was completed within the past year.

According to the revaluation of all Manalapan property, the municipality's worth increased from $2.5 billion in 2006 to $6.1 billion in 2007.

Lucas said it is estimated that as a result of the revaluation, the municipal tax rate will decrease from 47.4 cents to 24.6 cents per $100 of assessed valuation.

Based on last year's assessments, the increase in the municipal tax rate would have been 12.9 cents per $100 of assessed valuation.

In each of the past two years the committee lowered the municipal tax rate. In 2006, the municipal tax rate was lowered from 47.40 to 47.37 cents per $100 of assessed valuation.

According to figures Lucas provided, in 2006 the average home in Manalapan was assessed at $178,500 and generated $846 in municipal taxes.

Following the revaluation, the average home in Manalapan is now assessed at $429,603 and will generate an estimated $1,056 in municipal taxes, representing an increase of $210 to the owner of a home that saw their home's assessed value increase as noted.

Lucas said the 2007 budget is estimated to total $29.5 million, compared to the 2006 budget of $28.8 million. The amount to be raised in local taxes in 2007 will be $15.2 million, compared with the 2006 local tax levy of $11.9 million.

Municipal taxes are 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 for every $1 paid in property taxes, the municipality receives 15 cents; Manalapan's open space fund receives 1 cent; the fire district receives 2 cents; the two school districts (Manalapan-Englishtown and FRHSD) receive 66 cents; and Monmouth County receives 16 cents.

He said the municipal taxes must provide for increased operating costs each year. That includes rising utility costs and contractual obligations while continuing to provide services that include recreation, police, senior citizen programs, storm water management, garbage and recycling, and land preservation.

Lucas said township officials have preserved more than 1,000 acres of Manalapan's land.

A contentious exchange between Deputy Mayor Michelle Roth and Committeeman Anthony Gennaro marked the April 25 budget discussion.

First, Roth asked Gennaro why he was the only member of the committee who had not submitted any written input regarding the 2007 budget to Township Administrator Tara Lovrich that she could use in preparing the spending plan.

Gennaro said even though he did not submit anything in writing for Lovrich to use in the budget preparation, that did not mean he had not been involved in the process.

He told Roth, with Lovrich present, that he had met twice with the administrator and Manalapan's finance officer in order to be apprised of the budget that was being prepared.

"Just because I haven't submitted a sheet doesn't mean I haven't put in the time," Gennaro said.

For his part, Gennaro confronted Roth over remarks she made in a recent News Transcript story about the budget. That article included an acknowledgment by township officials that property owners would likely pay more in municipal taxes in 2007 than they did in 2006.

In the story, Roth referred to the 2006 budget as a "political stunt." She asserted that Gennaro and former Committeeman Joseph Locricchio had "pushed" the township auditor to assume that more money would be received from construction than was actually realized.

According to Roth, Manalapan ended up collecting less in construction fees then had been collected the year before.

Gennaro said that after reading Roth's comment in the news story he called the auditor to ask if he (the auditor) had felt pushed. He said the auditor denied feeling any pressure relative to the preparation of the budget.

Gennaro said the auditor told him that if he felt as if he was being "pushed," he (the auditor) would have brought that to the attention of municipal officials.

"I take exception to your use of the term pushed. It's out of line and misleading," Gennaro told Roth.

"I still think it's accurate, but that's fine," Roth responded.