Bedminster Municipal Taxes to Rise $25

Editor's Note: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated the amount which taxes would rise in Bedminster under the proposed budget.

Municipal taxes on the average Bedminster home will rise by $25 under the terms of a budget introduced by the township committee Monday.

Township administrator Judith Sullivan said that the $10.5 million spending plan, if approved, would increase the tax bill on the average home assessed at $419,900 by $25.

Sullivan will make a formal presentation on the budget at the April 1 committee meeting. A PowerPoint presentation will be posted on the township website on Tuesday.

The public hearing and formal adoption of the budget is scheduled for April 15.

Sullivan said the 2013 budget increased 1.97 percent over the 2012 budget, under the state-mandated 2 percent cap. However, more reserve money was allocated for uncollected taxes, bringing the budget increase to 2.2 percent.

Helping to keep the budget down, Sullivan said, was a decrease in police pension costs and energy savings realized from the solar canopy in the rear parking lot of the municipal building.

Also keeping costs down is the allocation of open space trust funds to help maintain recreational facilities, Sullivan said. That move was approved in a referendum in November.

The budget allocates $1 million for capitol projects, but $725,000 of that money will come from grants and surplus, Sullivan said.

One of the chief drivers of the budget hike is a 4 percent increase in salary included in the Policemens Benevolent Association contract.

The 2013 budget is currently set at $179,000 more than the 2012 spending plan.

Sullivan also said that the township is likely to recoup 75 percent of the $135,000 spent by the township in response to Superstorm Sandy in October. She said DPW Director John Mantz and Police Chief Patrick Ussery have filed the paperwork with FEMA to get the funds back.