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Politics & Government

Township Balancing Rise in Pension, Health Care Costs

With savings from joint court and county dispatch, budget expected below tax cap.

While a move to a with surrounding municipalities and a switch to the will save Chatham Township in 2011, health care costs and pension expenses for police and public employees are expected increases for next year.

In an overview presentation Thursday night of the township's 2011 municipal budget, Administrator Tom Ciccarone explained the budget will stay well within the state-mandated 2-percent tax levy cap.

“In 2010, the governor signed into law Chapter 62 of the laws of 2010 which imposed a 2-percent limit on the increase to the previous year’s amount,” Ciccarone said.

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Under the new state laws, the township would be allowed to levy $10,050,986 in taxes in 2011, but the amount that will actually be levied is $9,600,577, Ciccarone said.

“State aid is budgeted at the same amount as 2010,” he said. “The good news is that it didn’t go down, but the bad news is that there was no increase, and there is likely to never be an increase again.”

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He said the township achieved two significant achievements in 2010 that will be reflected in next year's budget. The first is the consolidation of the municipal court with Madison, Chatham Borough and Harding Township into one shared court housed in Madison. The second is the turnover of emergency dispatch services to the county.

“These achievements will save more than $250,000 per year,” Ciccarone said. “These full savings will not be realized this year due to the phase-in of the agreements.”

Notable increases to the 2011 budget include:

  • Health insurance: $190,000
  • Police pension: $116, 248
  • Joint library: $70,000
  • Public employees pension: $67,370
  • Reserve for uncollected taxes: $102.062

Ciccarone highlighted an increase in miscellaneous revenues by about $10,000, while anticipation of revenues from construction code fees are down $10,000 due to the slowdown in work.

He showed a pie chart of 2011 appropriations, which are:

  • Library: 8 percent
  • General government: 10 percent
  • Other: 6 percent
  • Insurance: 14 percent
  • Recreation: 4 percent
  • Utilities and streetlights: 4 percent
  • Public works: 21 percent
  • Debt services: 5 percent
  • Reserve for uncollected taxes: 11 percent
  • Public safety: 24 percent

“As a result of prudent planning over the last several years, we remain in a position to meet the state mandating controls on spending and taxation,” Ciccarone said.

“We have reduced the size of every department of municipal government through attrition and without the need for layoffs or forced furloughs. We have met today’s challenges and will continue on the path we have chosen. We have continue to see healthy ratable growth as a results of the planning and zoning policies in place and the efforts of our volunteer boards that make Chatham Township a very desirable place to live.”

The estimated tax rate in 2010 was $1.601. In 2011, it’s $1.634. The breakdown includes 64 percent for schools; 17 percent for county; 18 percent for local and 1 percent for open space.

The average residential assessment in 2010 was $747,500. In 2010, the local tax rate of 31.8 cents for $100 of assessed value resulted in a municipal tax bill of $2,377. The proposed rate would be $2,406, an increase of $29 for the year. These figures are based on a $700,000 home.

Ciccarone said the 2011 capital budget includes various road improvements, the purchase of a security system for police headquarters, and the purchase of fire equipment to support volunteers.

“Tom has put together a well thought-out budget, and one that keeps to 2 percent cap the state has imposed,” Mayor Nicole Hagner said. “There isn’t any one area we feel we could reduce significantly.”

She added that the budget is based on a 2 percent salary increase for public works and municipal employees, as well as the annual increase for police officers, for a total of $16,000.

“We have lost a lot of people this year through attrition, and the employees who are left have picked up the slack," she said. "They do work hard.”

Committee Member Bailey Brower Jr. said he hopes the public understands that the things that are really out of control are state and federal mandates. He questioned whether the 1 percent open space tax is necessary during these economic times.

“If we can flatline the budget, I think we should,” Brower said.

Tubbs disagreed.

“I don’t advocate cutting the open space allotment,” he said. “Just to flatline the budget for the sake of flatlining is not a good idea.”

Ciccarone recommended the budget be introduced on March 10 and a hearing and adoption be schedule for the first committee meeting in April.

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