Borough Introduces Budget With Zero Percent Increase

Councilman and Budget Committee Chairperson Joseph Lagana was pleased to announce during Tuesday’s mayor and council meeting that the Borough would have a zero percent increase for its new 2012 budget.

The new budget also allows for a modest 1.5 percent salary increase for employees, who have not seen an increase in several years. 

“Residents should be happy. As a resident, I’m very happy,” said Lagana. “As a councilman I’m proud we were able to craft this budget, to not only with less tax but really invest in Paramus, invest in our workforce. The foresight is very sincere. Over the next few years, the Borough is really going to reap the benefits from the tough choices we make today.”

Due to necessary deadlines, the council held a special meeting on the morning of June 15 to introduce the budget. 

Lagana, who thanked the finance committee, council members, the outgoing and incoming chief financial officers, said most importantly, layoffs of Borough employees never became a necessary option.

According to Raymond Herr, Chief Financial Officer, the key budget figures are as follows:

• Amount to be raised by municipal taxes: $41,019,328, (down $62,973 from last year)
• Library tax is $2,817,760 (down $57,900 from last year)
• Total amount to be raised by taxes $43,837,088 (down $120,875 from last year)
• This should result in a small decrease of about $10 per average assessed home.

According to the Borough, the average assessed home in Paramus is $510,000. 

Mayor Richard LaBarbiera said the past two years have been difficult economically for the Borough. With the pressure falling on the Borough department heads and employees to do more with less, LaBarbiera said they stepped up and presented tighter department budgets to keep costs down.

“Yes the budget committee did a great job, the councilman did a great job, as well as the professionals, but it’s really the workers that made it happen,” LaBarbiera explained, adding that maintaining the level of services was optimal for residents of Paramus.

"I commend them [Borough employees], from the ones who pick up our garbage, to those who protect us,” LaBarbiera said. “Without them, we would not be able to continue to offer the fine services that we do to our residents here in Paramus.”

The mayor and council expect to adopt the new budget by the July 17 mayor and council meeting.

We'll take a closer look at the team who put together the budget and what the financial future holds for the Borough in the coming days.