Brick Officials Trim Municipal Tax Increase To 1.5 Cents

BRICK, NJ -- Brick Township officials have trimmed half a cent from the potential increase in the municipal property tax rate in the 2016 budget, Mayor John G. Ducey said this week.

The increase -- a reduction of a half-cent from the amount of the introduced budget -- amounts to $44 for homeowners with a house assessed at the township average of $293,600, Ducey said during the public hearing on the municipal budget at the Township Council meeting.

Ducey said township officials cut about $500,000 from the budget that was proposed in February, but said no services are being cut in the process.

"No services will be impacted," Ducey said.

The remaining 1.5-cent increase is due to the ongoing impacts of Hurricane Sandy, he said, reiterating comments made when the budget was introduced.

However, the town is now hopeful of receiving money through another round of the federally funded Community Block Development Grant Essential Services grant program, Ducey said. The program was revived after several towns pleaded with the state for further assistance as the recovery from Sandy limps along.

In Brick, there is still $357 million in ratables that have not been returned to the property tax rolls, he said.

The township is one of 14 entities -- towns and school districts -- eligible for this round of grants, he said.

"There's no guarantee we'll get any money," Ducey said, "but we're hopeful."

The 2016 budget includes funds to cover a 3 percent across-the-board pay increase for township employees negotiated with the township's four unions, Business Administrator Joanne Bergin said.

The Township Council approved memorandums of agreement with all four unions at the meeting. Those agreements include a 3 percent raise, but also a continuance of employee contributions to the cost of health benefits, Bergin said.

The state law that had mandated contributions expired at the end of 2015, making that provision negotiable, Bergin said. The township's unions agreed to keep it in place, which she said was an important concession on the unions' part.

In 2016, that concession amounts to nearly $2 million of the nearly $15 million that the township pays for employee health benefits. Continuing that percentage eases the budgeting process, Bergin said.

"We negotiatied fair compensation to our workforce while being fiscally responsible and diligent," Bergin said, noting the total cost to the taxpayers of the increase is just over $850,000.

"These are fair contracts that allow us to manage our expenditures" in the face of the unpredictability of health care expenses, Bergin said.