Proposed Ramsey Tax Rate ‘Safely Under 2% Cap’

Ramsey’s municipal taxes will likely go up in 2013, but the increase will come in under the state-mandated 2% tax levy cap, borough officials said at a council meeting Wednesday night.

According to Councilwoman Vanessa Jachzel, the proposed $22.8M budget calls for a municipal tax rate increase of 1.89%, which she said is “safely under the 2% cap.”

The main change this year that will likely lead to tax increases, she said, is a new evaluation of Verizon’s phone stake in the borough, a large ratable in Ramsey.

“Verizon has claimed that they no longer have a 51% share of the phone lines in Ramsey,” Jachzel said Wednesday. Because the share dipped below that threshold, the company is entitled to major tax break, she said.

According to Jachzel, the decrease in taxable value of the ratable will lead to a $75,000 loss in revenue for the borough. 

“That’s a fairly significant loss,” Jachzel said. “It definitely does make an impact.”

Though Ramsey could challenge the tax break, Jachzel said courts have sided with phone companies in similar challenges in other towns throughout the state.

Other factors affecting this year’s municipal tax rate include rising health care costs for borough employees, and a lack of excess funding allocated to the library, Jachzel said. In years past, extra money carved out for the library budget has been given back to the borough.

The budget spending is less than it was last year, thanks mostly to the purchase of an Airmont Rd. property for special needs housing last year, which was reimbursed by COAH funds, she said.So, overall, the 2013 budget is down from 2012. Last year’s $23.7 million budget called for a 1.93 percent increase in municipal taxes, NorthJersey.com reported in May 2012.

This year’s budget numbers will not be finalized, the council said, until after state aid figures are announced. The 1.89% increase is assuming state aid numbers remain flat.

According to borough Business Administrator Bruce Vozeh, the state aid figures should be announced soon.

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