Morris Township OKs Budget With $50 Typical Tax Hike

The Morris Township Committee on Thursday adopted a budget that translates to an approximate $50-per-year tax increase for a typical homeowner.

The budget saw one minor amendment since its April 13 introduction, which Mayor H. Scott Rosenbush called "moving $50,000 from one bucket to another." In the anticipated revenues section of the $33.1 million budget, the amount of revenue expected from "receipts for delinquent taxes," rose by $50,000, and the amount of revenue expected from the "recreation trust fund reimbursement for expenses," dropped by $50,000.

Township Administrator Timothy Quinn said that the tax rate would increase under the new budget from 60.4 cents to 61.6 cents per $100 of assessed value. That would translate to a tax payment of $2,464 in 2011 for the owner of a home assessed at $400,000, or $48 more than the same homeowner paid for 2010.

That tax increase does not include county or school district taxes, which are set separately. The tax for school purposes, set after voters approved the Morris School District's own proposed budget in April, is $1.40 per $100 of assessed valuation; for the owner of a $400,000 home, that amounts to $5,600 in school taxes. The county tax rate of 21 cents per $100 of assessed valuation amounts to another $840.

The resolution to amend the budget passed unanimously, as did the resolution to adopt the $33.1 million plan.

Officials have said the spending plan is about $500,000 less than the township could have budgeted while still remaining in compliance with a state-mandated 2 percent cap on year-over-year increases to the tax levy. And while state law allows for some types of expenses to be calculated separately from the cap—allowing a government to exceed 2 percent if the reasons are tied to costs such as healthcare and pension payments—the budget stays within the 2 percent ceiling even when those costs are factored in.

"We're proud of the way we've been able to put this together," Committeeman Peter Mancuso . He said the township plans to maintain or increase services, and will bring back brush pick-up, which was suspended in 2010. Mancuso said also that no layoffs are planned for 2011.