Brick Municipal Tax Rate Rising 2 Cents, Mayor Says

BRICK, NJ -- Brick Township property owners will see a 2-cent increase on their property taxes under the 2016 municipal budget introduced Tuesday night at the Township Council meeting.

The increase, Mayor John Ducey said, is directly tied to the impact of Superstorm Sandy, which devastated the Jersey Shore 3-1/2 years ago. Repayment of an emergency loan the town took to cover immediate cleanup and recovery costs, the end of an Essential Services Grant the state had given to Sandy-impacted towns and ratables that still haven't returned to the township's tax rolls had a combined impact of 11.3 cents on the tax rate, which Ducey said the town offset by using surplus.

The proposed 2016 budget is $102,954,968, up $2,001,992 over the 2015 budget of $100,952,976, an increase of 1.98 percent. The proposed municipal tax levy is $71,926260, a 2-cent increase over the 2015 levy, Ducey said.

The increase equals $59 for a home at the average assessment of $293,600, he said.

As Ducey has said since January, the budget includes a $6.9 million payment on an emergency note the township used to pay for cleanup after Superstorm Sandy struck in October 2012. Officials in Brick and other towns have asked the state to allow them to extend the repayment period to lessen the tax impact but those requests have gone unanswered.

Additionally, a $2.1 million Essential Services Grant the state had provided to help with the continued impact does not exist this year.

Ducey said those two items alone accounted for what would have been 8.78 cents on the tax rate.

The township's ratables still remain nearly $358 million below what they were before Sandy hit, he said.

To help bridge the gap and ease the impact on taxpayers, the township is using $10 million of its surplus, leaving $9.2 million in surplus, Ducey said.

Items beyond Sandy that increased the budget included significant increases in the cost of the township's health insurance, Ducey said. The cost of medical coverage rose 9 percent, while the cost of prescription coverage rose 35 percent.

The township also has had to increase its pension fund contributions, which Ducey said was the result Gov. Chris Christie's "decision not to fund the state's pension obligation."

Ducey said the township has seen significant reductions in some areas, saving $135,000 on animal control services under the contract change that drew significant fire in early 2015; saving $134,000 by administering the Community Development Block Grant in-house instead of paying a consultant; and saving nearly $232,000 combined on workers comp and liability premiums "thanks to the hard work of our safety officer," Joe Gilsenan, who was commended by the Ocean County Municipal Joint Insurance Fund and by the township council recently.

Ducey said the township continues to look for ways to reduce its debt and reduce interest being paid on its debt.