Municipal Tax Increase Estimated at $127 on Average Home, Mayor says

The introduction of the 2013 Municipal Budget at Thursday's Mayor and Council meeting estimated a municipal tax increase of $127 on an average home of $465,000. Total general appropriations are $71,728,194.09. 

Borough Auditor Steve Wielkotz explained that the tax increase would have been close to 'zero' were it not for the over $500,000 in emergency expenditures during Hurricane Sandy, and the 19 percent increase from the BCUA, an increase, Mayor Mark Sokolich said, the town is vigorously opposing. The bill that the BCUA handed the town is $760,000. According to Mayor Mark Sokolich, this represents the highest increase of any Bergen County town and the borough is fighting it.

"We are not, not going to concede," Sokolich said. "Our commitment to reducing that bill will be hopefully successful."

According to Wielkotz, debt service is down 400K after the borough refinanced some of its older bond issues at much lower interest rates; health benefits costs are down due to the change in plans made by the Mayor and Council; and pension costs are down approximately $80K.

The Council passed the ordinance establishing a CAP Bank. Local governments can circumvent the 2 percent cap on municipal budget increases if an ordinance is adopted establishing a "cap" bank. The passage of the ordinance permits the governing body, in certain situations, to increase its budget in an amount not to exceed 3.5 percent of the preceding year’s appropriations level.

According to Wielkotz, by passing the ordinance, the borough wants to preserve its CAP Bank for future years in case it is needed.  

"This budget is over $3.8 million under our appropriations cap. With CAP Banks from previous years we're $7 million under the 2 percent tax levy cap," Wielkotz said.  

"We're under both caps by a lot and we approved the ordinance to preserve that CAP Bank for future years in case the borough runs into a situation where it needs it," he said.

Sokolich explained the CAP Bank as "banking the differential between what we actually spent and what we could have spent by law for future year use."

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