Bridgewater Seeks $941K In Coronavirus Relief As Revenues Drop

BRIDGEWATER, NJ — With businesses closing left and right, Bridgewater's revenues are down due to the coronavirus pandemic. To help offset this, the Bridgewater Township Council unanimously voted at its Monday night meeting to introduce an ordinance seeking roughly $941,000 in bonds from the state to help cover any revenue deficits.

"We don't know what will happen in 2021. I want to make sure that we take advantage of every tool at our disposal so that way our residents and taxpayers are not facing a large tax increase next year or see a decrease in service," said Mayor Matthew Moench.

The state passed legislation in late August allowing municipalities to borrow in order to help cover revenue shortfalls and additional costs that are directly related to the COVID-19 pandemic. This is the "tool" Moench is referring to.

Currently, Township Administrator Michael Pappas said the township is reporting a $941,849.06 deficit in revenue due to COVID-19. However, that number may change by Dec. 31 to reflect the year's end actual revenue lost.

The $941K loss in revenue comes even after Bridgewater already made significant cuts when creating its budget this year. The cuts including laying off 14 employees and eliminating 10 positions were made to account for reduced revenue projections to keep taxes down. Read More: 14 Laid Off, 10 Positions Eliminated In $43M Bridgewater Budget

"If we had to raise an extra $1 million from our residents, we are talking about an 8 to 10 percent tax increase. Which is certainly something no one wants to do," said Moench. "We want to continue to keep any large spikes, any large swings in revenue from impacting our residents."

With the bond, municipalities will have five years to pay off the borrowed amount. The interest rate currently on the bonds fluctuates from .3 to .5 percent, according to Bridgewater's Bond Counsel John Draikiwicz.

Councilman Timothy Ring also noted the long-term impacts of the coronavirus on the township's revenue.

"While COVID is not going away anytime in the next immediate near future. If it hypothetically did go away tomorrow, I don't think we would see the revenue back up at the mall," said Ring.

He added that it would "absolutely, certainly" be several years before the travel portion, hotel tax portion of the revenue to get back to where it was pre-COVID.

"As more companies look at Zoom meetings there will be a reduction in travel," said Ring. "Even with this tool in our tool box, what's not to say we will have to make difficult decisions in the next few years."

The second and final reading of the ordinance for the Coronavirus Relief bond will be heard at the Dec. 7 meeting.

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