Westfield Introduces $46.1M Budget With Miniscule Tax Increase

WESTFIELD, NJ — Following a slide presentation on Tuesday night, the Westfield council introduced the proposed $46.1 million municipal budget. While expenses for coronavirus precautions have forced some towns to lay off workers or raise taxes, the town has managed to shrink spending instead.

The budget, slightly down from the 2019 spending plan, will cause a municipal tax increase of $54 per year on the average home assessed at $796,000, said Town Administrator Jim Gildea.

Following a public comment period, it will be up for a final hearing and vote on May 26.

The school budget and county budget will also affect the total property tax amount. Last year, 59 percent of property taxes collected in Westfield went to the schools, and 23 percent to Union County.

The new spending plan includes no layoffs, Gildea said. "Reductions were made to overtime and many other areas," he noted.

According to a slide presentation, the town cut costs in most categories, is holding off on replacing employees who retire, and has postponsed purchasing new municipal equipment.

In Mayor Shelley Brindle's budget message at the meeting on Tuesday night, she said the plan "reflects a lot of revenue uncertainty stemming from unknown tax collection rates and lost revenue from sources like parking, courts, construction, investments, and the pool."

She said the town was in a strong position to weather the crisis, although it's hard to predict the long-term, as "Municipalities have not been promised any financial assistance to offset pandemic-driven revenue declines, so we must be discerning, flexible, and methodical to determine the best path forward to deliver uninterrupted services to our residents."

Brindle said town is putting tax dollars to work. "We’ve done that through expansive road paving, investment in equipment and automation, and using surplus to lower the municipal tax rate to zero last year to mitigate uncertainty over the revaluation. This has all been accomplished while maintaining a 15 to 20 percent surplus level which is important to maintain our AAA bond rating."

To look at the appropriations and anticipated revenues in the proposed budget, click here.

To see the presentation from the meeting, click here.

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