Berkeley Seeing No Tax Increase In Budget Plan

BERKELEY, N.J. — Berkeley residents will see no increase in their municipal tax rate, Mayor Carmen F. Amato said as he presented the 2019 municipal budget Monday to Berkeley Council. The local tax rate will remain the same as 2018: .646 per $100 of assessed valuation.

"This is the third municipal budget in the last five years that had no municipal tax increase for our homeowners," Amato said in a statement.
The 2019 introduced Budget is under the State mandated 2% Levy Cap (amount to be raised by taxation cap) by $5,301,015.00."

For the average assessed single-family home of $201,200, that means $1,299.72 for the year. Thirty percent of the overall tax bill encompasses the municipal portion, while the remaining 70 percent would go toward schools and Ocean County.

The budget totaled $46,716,487.43. The 0.71 percent increase puts the 2019 budget at $47,046,044.36 — a $329,556.93 raise. The spending increase reflects contractual obligations and debt services, Amato said. The Operations and Expenditures in the budget plan are frozen at 2018 levels.

Berkeley's average tax bill for 2018 was the 27th lowest in New Jersey, out of 566 municipalities.

Read more: Where Does Berkeley's Average Property Tax Bill Rank In NJ?

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