Moorestown Council Passes Budget With 2 Percent Increase

Moorestown Council approved a budget that carries a 2 percent tax rate increase Monday night.

The budget carries a tax rate of .412, which translates to an 8 tenths of a cent increase on Monday night. The owner of an average Moorestown home valued at $446,500 will pay $1,840 in taxes, an increase of $36.

Council approved the budget with a 3-1 vote. Mayor Victoria Napolitano voted against the budget, and Council member Greg Newcomer was absent following a recent surgery, according to officials.

Napolitano also voted against the budget when it was introduced on April 13. On Monday night, she explained she would rather see the deficit covered with money from the surplus as opposed to raising taxes.

According to Moorestown Chief Financial Officer Tom Merchel, the deficit could be covered using about $390,000 in surplus money.

The Township has already used $2,030,000 in surplus, leaving about $5 million in surplus money remaining.

The increase includes a 1 percent increase in the library budget, which is mandated by the state. The library tax is based on the town’s total valuation. As the valuation goes up, the library tax increases.

The other 1 percent is the municipal increase. This increase is due to an increase of $203,000 in budget appropriations and a $233,000 decrease in revenues, Merchel said previously.

Merchel said the decrease in revenues was due to the Township using less surplus and collecting less in delinquent taxes this year.

According to Merchel, the Township made up for delinquent taxes not collected the previous year last year, but that resulted in less money collected in delinquent taxes this year.

The current fund for the budget is $23,812,000, with a water and sewer fund of $9,181,000.

There were no cuts in staff or services.