City to Introduce Budget
By ELLEN CARROLL
The Asbury Park City Council is scheduled to meet today (March 30) to introduce its municipal budget which includes a 39-cent tax rate increase.
City Manager Terry Reidy said the final budget, however, will not reflect such an increase.
In order for us to be eligible for state aid we have to introduce the budget before the end of March so we needed a special meeting, Reidy said. Its important that the budget we introduce reflects the real cost of operating the city. It really is the basis for whether you are eligible for state aid.
Reidy, who drew up the budget and presented it to the council, said he already cut millions of dollars from the budget.
We are looking for ways to cut but the state recognizes the need to support Asbury Park, he said. There is no magic bullet.
Reidy said the city is applying for $750,000 in state aid, the amount applied for each of the last three years. The city received $500,000 in state aid for those years.
A penny on the tax rate is equal to $42,000, Reidy said.
School Budget
The Board of Education has approved a budget of $89.4 million which reflects no increase in the school tax rate as long as the state contributes $13.9 million in state aid.
The amount to be raised through taxation in the school budget is $4,867,928, up about $125 per household.
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