$1.2M State Grant Trims Brick Municipal Tax Increase by Half A Cent

BRICK, NJ — A $1.2 million grant from the state aimed at easing the continuing financial impact of Superstorm Sandy will reduce the township's anticipated property tax increase for 2016, township officials said Tuesday night.

The grant, part of $42 million in aid announced by Gov. Chris Christie on Aug. 26 under New Jersey's Non-Federal Cost Share Match program, reimbursed local government entities — including the township and Ocean County government — for their share of money spent during the immediate aftermath of the storm. FEMA paid 90 percent of the emergency costs, leaving local governments to cover the other 10 percent.

Christie said the decision to open the Match Program — which has been used by state agencies for Sandy recovery — to towns was a response to the refusal in June by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development to extend another round of Essential Services grants to Sandy communities.

In Brick, the Essential Services grants have helped bridge the gap for both the township and the school district as properties are slowly returned to the tax rolls in town. Hundreds of the township's properties have yet to be fully restored to the tax rolls, as people slog through the process of lifting homes under the Reconstruction, Rehabilitation, Elevation, and Mitigation (RREM) Program.

Brick Mayor John Ducey, in discussing the budget amendment that was on the agenda at Tuesday's Brick Township Council meeting, said the grant was good news for taxpayers.

The public hearing on the budget amendment and adoption of the budget is scheduled for Monday, Sept. 12, officials said.

The grant — $1,196,675.46 — allows the town to reduce the tax rate and earmark funds for surplus to help maintain financial stability in the 2017 budget, he said.

The inclusion of grant funds trims the 2016 tax rate increase to 0.9 cents, which is about $27 per year for the average home assessment of $293,600, Ducey said. The original tax increase was to have been 1.5 cents, or $44 per year on the average home, so the aid is providing tax relief, as Christie said it would.

Ducey said $400,000 from the grant will go into surplus, giving the township just under $1 million in surplus, he said.

"This budget is the product of a lot of hard work from many people including the township financial team and our department and division heads," Ducey said. "They have embraced our vision and philosophy and have been working to rein in spending and work more efficiently."

Brick Township seal by Karen Wall