Township Council Passes Municipal Budget With Zero Percent Tax Increase

The West Orange Township Council passed its municipal budget of $73,253,549 Tuesday with a zero percent tax increase.

Council members said there are no plans for layoffs or furloughs this year. There will be, however, a pay freeze for all municipal employees in order to provide stability to such a large township, according to the council.

Municipal services, such as public works, parks and recreation, account for 26 percent of residents' total property tax bill.

To help balance the budget and avoid a tax increase, the township sold two cell towers to Crown Castle International, a wireless infrastructure company, for nearly $2 million. Crown Castle purchased the revenue stream from the township for the carriers on these towers, which include AT&T, OmniPoint, SprintSpectrum and Nextel.

"Over the last several years, we've been able to put together a number of revenue sources: ambulance service, the cell tower, the recycling center … there is always a need to find revenue to offset the other increasing costs of operations," said West Orange Mayor Robert Parisi.

"This year, specifically, because we've been very successful having multiple cell towers, we were able to get together a lot of up front cash with the promise of future revenue streaming while still leaving the upside growth potential to the town."

Some residents, though, were not satisfied with the council's decision and said property taxes still are growing in the township.

Phillip Orphanidis, 24, whose parents live in West Orange, said he finds the situation unsettling.

"There is a lot of taxpayer angst and people are worried out there. There are job losses, taxes are going through the roof, and people look around and say, 'What is going on?' Zero percent doesn't really do anything," he said. "For the last 10 years, taxes have doubled and, yeah, the last 10 years were good economic growth, but a lot of that has been taken back within the last two years. We don't see what we gave back the last 10 years."

Orphanidis said that in the current economic climate, he finds the roles of parent and child in these tight economic times are switched.

"It hurts. ... It's getting to the point where we are getting worried," he said. "I was galvanized by the events that happened to my family — both my parents don't have jobs and it's devastating when you're father comes up to you and says, 'Hey, can you help me out?' "

Township Councilman Victor Cirilo said the passing of a zero percent increase in the budget is a West Orange milestone.

"We are going through a difficult financial, economic time," he said. "We've done the best that we could throughout, to make sure we don't affect our residents' pockets. When I tell people outside of West Orange that we were able to do that in town (zero percent tax increase), they are astounded."

Elnardo Webster Sr., West Orange councilman, said he understands times are tough for many families.

"We realize the state of the economy. We're past the recession — this is the new norm. We have to realize the job is to make sure West Orange stays affordable," he said. "We provide responsible budget boundaries to the best of our ability, to provide the services that are needed, and at the same time keep taxes affordable. It's a balance in the situation."