Council introduces $32.5M operating budget for 2007
BY VICTORIA HURLEY-SCHUBERT
Staff Writer

MARLBORO - Residents will see a 1-cent increase in the municipal tax rate this year if the Township Council approves a $32.5 million budget that was introduced on May 3. The budget carries a local tax levy of $17 million.

Public comment on the spending plan will be taken on June 28 at 8 p.m.

According to the proposed budget, Marlboro's municipal tax rate will rise from 53.3 cents to 54.3 cents per $100 of assessed valuation.

The owner of a home assessed at the township average of $217,000 will pay $1,178 in municipal taxes in 2007, an increase of about $22 from 2006. The owner of a home assessed at $300,000 will pay $1,629 in municipal taxes in 2007 (up from $1,599); the owner of a home assessed at $400,000 will pay $2,172 in municipal taxes in 2007 (up from $2,132); and the owner of a home assessed at $500,000 will pay $2,715 in municipal taxes in 2007 (up from $2,665).

Municipal taxes are one part of a property owner's overall tax bill, which also includes local K-8 school taxes, Freehold Regional High School District taxes and Monmouth County taxes, among other assessments.

The 2006 budget amounted to $30.3 million and raised the municipal tax rate by 2 cents, from 51.3 cents to 53.3 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. The local tax levy was $16.4 million.

The 2005 budget amounted to $28.2 million and raised the municipal tax rate by 8 cents, from 43.3 cents to 51.3 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. The local tax levy was $15.48 million.

The 2007 budget has an increase of more than $1 million, or almost 5 percent, in core operating expenses such as salaries and utilities, according to Chief Financial Officer Al Steinberg.

The township will be receiving $824,000 less in grants, council Vice President Steve Rosenthal said. But there have been increases in revenues, he noted, including a $250,000 increase in investment income revenues.

In 2007, almost $6.6 million in surplus (savings) is expected to be used to help fund the budget. The use of the surplus prevented the increase in the tax rate from reaching 6 or 7 cents, said Rosenthal.

Other savings were achieved with elimination and consolidations in operations.

"This council has taken a hard stance on efficiency," Councilman Joseph Per-nice said.

"2006 operations generated more surplus than in recent years," Steinberg said, adding that last year the township used $6.5 million in surplus to help fund the budget, which was an increase of almost $1 million from 2005 when $5.6 million in surplus was used to help fund municipal operations. "Marlboro is operating in the black. There's a shift to fiscally responsible budgeting."

"What's important is we kept surplus and we're starting to build for 2008," to conform to a state mandated 4 percent cap, said Rosenthal.