Cinnaminson Introduces Budget With Slight Increase

Cinnaminson residents will see a slight tax increase if the budget introduced Monday night is passed.

Cinnaminson Committee passed a $14,378,006 budget with a 3-0 vote Monday night. The amount to be raised by taxation is $9,687,273. The tax rate increase is 2.21 cents.

The average homeowner of a property assessed at $231,500 will see an annual tax increase of $49.99, which translates to $4.17 per month.

Mayor John McCarthy and Committeemen Don Brauckmann and Ben Young voted in favor of the budget. Deputy Mayor Kathy Fitzpatrick and Committeeman Anthony Minniti were not present for the vote.

The public hearing on the budget is scheduled for May 18.

According to Chief Financial Officer Julia Edmondson, increases in costs to run the Township, including health insurance, pension and salary costs contributed to the increase.

The Township has 51 full-time employees this year, four less than last year. It has 36 part-timers, five more than last year.

No services and no employees will be cut, according to Edmondson.

According to Edmondson:

• this year’s budget uses $900,000, or 43.82 percent of Cinnaminson’s $2,053,759.69 surplus, compared to the 80.37 percent used last year;
• it is $122,987 under the state levy cap;
• it is $900,343 under the state appropriation cap; and
• the Township collected 98.90 percent of all taxes owed last year, resulting in an expected collection rate of 98 percent this year.