$34.1M spending plan introduced in Marlboro
BY REBECCA MORTON Staff Writer

MARLBORO - A 2008 municipal budget totaling $34,159,547was unveiled at the May 15 meeting of the Township Council.

The budget proposes a 1.5-cent increase in the municipal tax rate. If the budget is eventually adopted as presented last week, themunicipal tax rate will rise from54.3 to 55.8 cents per $100 of assessed valuation.

Mayor Jonathan Hornik told those assembled in Town Hall that he was not 100 percent satisfied with the budget in its entirety.

"This budget, inmymind, represents the funding for what I consider to be a year of transition for our town," Hornik said.

The proposed increase in the municipal tax rate means the owner of a home assessed at $100,000 would see his municipal taxes rise from $543 in 2007 to $558 in 2008. The owner of a home assessed at $200,000would see hismunicipal taxes rise from $1,087 in 2007 to $1,116 in 2008.

The owner of a home assessed at $300,000would see hismunicipal taxes rise from $1,902 in 2007 to $1,953 in 2008. The owner of a home assessed at $500,000would see his municipal taxes rise from $2,715 in 2007 to $2,790 in 2008.

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

According to a presentation given at the council meeting, the 2008 budget is $1.2 million more than the 2007 budget of $32.9 million.

The mayor pointed out what he called the uncontrollable costs that rose in 2008- gasoline costs, police salaries, pension costs and Marlboro's debt service. Hornik noted that in areas he called controllable costs, municipal officialswere able to decrease the 2008 amount by $216,998 compared to 2007.

At previous budgetmeetings the council members sat down with the heads of municipal departments and asked each person to deliver as lean a budget as possible. Hornik said he was proud to report that most departments came forward with numbers below last year's.

Two caps initiated by the state also came into play for the 2008 budget, Hornik said, explaining that one is a cap on spending and the other, known as the A-1 legislation, is a cap on revenues the township can raise through taxation.

"These caps are being enforced at a time when the township's non-discretionary costs have increased by $1,365,000.Our revenues to the town have dropped over last year's numbers by $905,000," he explained.

Hornik said public safety is paramount and told those in attendance that no one in the administration is qualified enough to make decisions related to the police department.

"This budget contains the requested amount of operating resources by the administration of our police department for various programs they run. But in order to ensure the overall efficiency and effectiveness of police operations, I have asked that the New Jersey Division of Local Government Services provide us with the services of a public safety expert who is qualified to give an independent and objective evaluation of the operations of our police department," Hornik said, adding that the evaluation, estimated to cost $100,000, will be paid for by the state. The evaluation of the police department is expected to begin in the next few weeks.

With the rebirth of an economic development committee,Hornik hopes to stimulate commercial ratables in the community. Presenting a graph, the mayor described how six surrounding municipalities have higher commercial ratable percentages thanMarlboro and noted that of those six nearbymunicipalities, five have lower average property taxes than Marlboro.

Speaking about the current state of the economy and the hardships on residents' wallets, Hornik said he was asking the council to approve a resolution deferring $3.9million of additional school tax into surplus to be used in the 2008 budget, an amount $1.6 million above last year's deferred school tax appropriation.

"While recognizing the importance of the township to reduce (its reliance on) deferred school tax, based on the current economic climate, reduced state aid, and the previously mentioned budget pressures, I am of the firm belief that we must use every means possible to continue to deliver a high level of services without overburdening our residents with increased taxes," Hornik said. Council Vice President Steve Rosenthal spoke against relying on the deferred school tax.

"Smoking cigarettes is legal. Is it a good thing to do?Absolutely not," Rosenthal said of the legal use of the deferred school tax.

Rosenthal noted that Marlboro is nearing its limit on the amount of money permitted to be used in deferred school tax. He offered some options to relying on the deferred tax, including reducing capital improvement plans that have not yet received their money.

Business Administrator Alayne Shepler said she and Chief Financial Officer Ulrich Steinberg had already gone through those possibilities and wrung them dry.

All of the council members agreed they did not want to rely on the deferred school tax to support the budget, but Councilman Frank LaRocca and councilwomen Rosa Tragni and RandiMarder all said therewas no other option at the moment.

The council passed resolutions to introduce the budget and to use the amount of deferred school tax themayor proposed. The budget will be adopted at a future meeting of the council.

Rosenthal abstained on both resolutions. Council President Jeff Cantor was absent from the meeting.