Manasquan Council Adopts $9M Budget

The Manasquan Borough Council at its meeting Monday adopted by a 4-1 vote an $8.73 million municipal budget for 2012, effectively raising property taxes by 4.6 percent over last year.

This year's budget is an increase of roughly $170,000 from the 2011 budget of $8.56 million.

The borough will raise $5.83 million in municipal taxes by increasing the tax levy by 1.6 cents per $100 of assessed property value, for an increase of 4.6 percent over last year's levy rate.

The complete budget is attached to the PDF section of this story. The borough's last five budgets can be found on its website.

As it stands, the average homeowner with a property assessed at $501,000 would pay an extra $80 in property taxes to fund the budget. The municipal tax rate is set to rise from 34.7 cents per $100 to 36.3 cents per $100 to fund the 2012 spending plan.

Councilman Don Grasso, a Conservative Party member, cast the only vote against the budget, while the council's four Democratic members voted in favor. Republican Councilwoman Patricia Connolly was absent from the meeting.

During the public hearing prior to the vote no residents expressed any objections to the budget.

While budget will increase from last year, the borough will stay within the state-mandated 2 percent tax levy cap with certain exemptions on spending.

The borough's auditor, Alan Schechter, has explained that the 2012 budget comes in roughly $41,000 under the 2 percent cap, which can only be sidestepped via public referendum.

Borough Administrator Joe DeIorio has said the ($390,257), increased debt service ($71,000), declining revenues and a 21 percent increase in its insurance premiums when drafting the spending plan. Operating expenses actually will be lowered from 2011 but the budget will grow due to the aforementioned factors.

The council was initially presented a budget that would not meet the 2 percent cap threshold but cut recently with reductions in the, overtime salaries and other departmental spending.