Municipal Budget 2012: No Need for Staff Layoffs This Year

Increases in fuel and health benefits and lack of additional state aid are all factors impacting the municipal budget once again this year however as the Finance Committee members finalize the 2012 budget for the March 13 introduction, officials say there will be no need for staff layoffs this year.

Last year the borough cut two municipal employees from the payroll, and decided to not replace a third employee who had retired mid-year as a way of .

Mayor Rose Heck says it gets more difficult each year to keep budget numbers as low as possible due to extensive cuts over the past year. She said the Finance Committee is happy to say there will be no need for layoffs this year.

She said cuts have already been made to bring down what could have possibly been a 3-plus point increase. Numbers are not final yet but currently there is an estimated tax levy increase around 1.9 tax points and the Finance Committee hopes to reduce this further down to 1 tax point, Heck said.

One tax point now equals roughly $155,000, Mike Kronyak, borough administrator and chief financial officer, explained. This number is now based on the new average home value based on the recent property reassessment. 

The new average home value for Hasbrouck Heights has gone from $436,800 to $355,000. A tax increase of one point would now mean an increase of $35 for a house valued at the new average one value, Kronyak explained.  

So residents can see a comparison, the value of tax point at the old assessed value was $186,500 which meant $43.68 to the average home owner.

Kronyak said the situation for each property owner will differ as some residential property owners saw a decrease in value while others may have seen an increase. Overall it’s expected that the average residential property owner should see some tax relief based on a shift in tax burden over to commercial properties as a result of the reassessment.

Mayor Heck said the Finance Committee, which includes Kronyak, Councilwoman Pamela Link who serves as chair and Councilman Justin DiPisa in addition to herself, will continue to “do its best to maintain our services and to absorb increased costs of benefits.” She added that “due to the mandated percentage increases paid by borough employees, they will contribute approximately $95,000 towards the cost of their health benefits in 2012.”

The police department is now down two members and just one will be replaced this year, Heck said. The Department of Public Works, down three men, will have two replaced this year, she added. 

The budget will be introduced March 13 and a public hearing will be held likely at the subsequently scheduled mayor and council meeting. Changes to the budget can be made after it is introduced before it is adopted.