Middletown's Municipal Tax Levy Falls, But School Taxes Rise

MIDDLETOWN, NJ - The Middletown Township Committee adopted the 2017 municipal budget at the May 1 meeting Monday night. With it, homeowners in Middletown will see their municipal tax rate slightly drop, as the municipal tax levy is decreasing by $161,459. In happy news for residents, the cost of Middletown's government has been steadily trending downwards since 2012.

However, that drop will be offset by an increase in the school budget. On average, Middletown homeowners will see a $213 school tax increase, after the Board of Ed. passed their $159 million budget last week.

Negotiations with Middletown public school teachers are next, as they prepare to negotiate with the district on a new three-year contract. The first meeting between the Middletown Township Education Association and the district will be this Thursday, May 3, union president Linda Guyer told the APP. She said she's confident a contract will be complete this summer.

For every dollar paid in property taxes in Middletown Township, approximately 63 percent is sent to the school district, 13 percent is sent to Monmouth County, and 21 percent stays here in Middletown to cover the cost of municipal operations, such as police, fire and snow removal. Another two percent goes to the municipal library and one percent to the open space fund.

“We’ve taken a fine tooth comb to this budget in order to develop a spending plan that reduces costs with-out sacrificing core essential services,” said Mayor Gerry Scharfenberger. “We consistently seek ways to further minimize costs, maximize revenues and stretch a dollar."

He noted the cost of Middletown's municipal government has been trending down for the past five years.

Visit middletownnj.org/budget for more information.