Belleville Faces $3M Budget Gap: ‘Hard Decisions Will Be Made’

BELLEVILLE, NJ — There’s a tough conversation on the horizon, Belleville officials say. But eventually, the township is going to have to find a way to plug a looming, $3 million municipal budget shortfall – due largely in part to the coronavirus.

“Hard decisions will be made,” Township Manager Anthony Iacono said during Tuesday’s council meeting. Watch a video of the meeting here.

According to Iacono, several cost-cutting measures are on the table:

• A reduction in the size of municipal departments where revenue has decreased because of COVID-19
• An early retirement incentive program
• Furloughs to reduce work weeks by two days
• Exploring additional shared service agreements with neighboring municipalities
• Selling underused municipal properties

Belleville – like many other municipalities across the state – continues to cope with the financial damage wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic, officials said.

“The township could not have anticipated the far-reaching effects of COVID-19 on our bottom line,” Iacono said. “That being said, we must be prepared to face another shortfall in revenue.”

According to Belleville town officials:

“The township is facing a 3 percent increase in general liability insurance and a 28 percent increase in garbage disposal costs. At the same time, Belleville has sustained a 44 percent decrease in municipal court fees and a 71 percent decrease in interest on investments.”

The proposed 2020 municipal budget introduced at Tuesday night’s council meeting calls for a municipal tax increase of $298 for a home assessed at $276,000, the township average, to address the anticipated shortfall in revenue.

Belleville Mayor Michael Melham said he will place the township manager’s list of possible cost-saving measures on the agenda for discussion at the next council meeting. A formal vote authorizing him to explore these options will likely be held in September.

The municipal budget is scheduled for adoption on Sept. 22.

“There is no doubt some difficult conversations that must be had, as we review these professional recommendations to reduce spending,” Melham said. “Through it all, we must always keep our obligations to the taxpayers of Belleville as the paramount objective.”

According to Melham – when county and school taxes are also factored in – the average assessed home in Belleville pays slightly more than $10,000 in taxes per year.

It’s “just too much,” he said.

Melham, who pushed for cost-cutting in the name of lower taxes prior to the meeting, pointed out that township employees and their respective compensation packages equal 75 percent of the budget. But hopefully, it’s a figure that can be chopped, he added.

“In 2019, there were less employees than in 2018 when I took office,” Melham said. “In 2020, there are even less employees than in 2019.”

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