By JOANNE L. PAPAIANNI
Neptune City residents could be facing a 9 cent increase in their municipal taxes this year, but Mayor Thomas Arnone vows to keep fighting to have some of the reduced state aid returned.
Earlier this year the state cut back state aid to smaller municipalities, including a cut of $190,000 to Neptune City.
The good news, however, said Arnone is that the school tax rate was reduced by 3.5 cents bringing the total increase including municipal and school tax to $130 per household.
Arnone said the increase was unavoidable due to the increase in both the police and fire and public employees pension funds.
The increase amounted to $150,000 on top of routine contractual salary increases.
Arnone said the budget does not include a significant reduction in services, although some borough services have been combined, there will be no impact to residents.
We combined services to reduce costs, he said.
Arnone said he has heard some rumblings out of Trenton that many of the small towns which lost all or most of their state aid will have at least some of it returned.
The borough introduced its budget April 28, but Arnone said any aid given back to the town will be given to the local tax board, which must, by law, apply it to residents tax bills.
Arnone said this years total budget is $5,853,000 with $3,873,000 to be raised by taxes.
Arnone said hard figures from Trenton will not be released until the third week of June.
Its actually amazing what we were able to put together, Arnone said.
A public hearing on the budget is May 26 at 7:30 p.m.
Arnone, who was elected vice president of the New Jersey Executive Conference of Mayors, is attending a summit on the budget in Trenton on May 20.
At Mondays council meeting Arnone announced that the borough will be receiving an additional $59,000 for the clean up of East Coast Ice, which is located in the redevelopment zone.
That brings the total amount of funding from the Department of Environmental Protection for the clean up of the site to $147,000.
We are looking for more…for them to continue to do that, Arnone said.
Arnone said the borough is still waiting for information about when it will be safe to take down the building and what the final costs will be.
Arnone also said more appraisals have been completed in the redevelopment zone in the center of the zone, which he called the donut hole.
Arnone also reported that organizations targeted for donations from the mayors ball, held Saturday night, will be receiving $6500 each.
The mayor asked Councilman Charles Hartl to look into ordinances regarding clothing drop boxes in the borough.
Arnone said, They are unsightly, he said, other towns must have ordinances.
Hartl said, Ill do the research.
The mayor said he would like the new ordinance to be in place for the summer.
Councilman Bob Brown reported that during a power outage at Borough Hall and the school during Mondays storm all the emergency management plans were implemented efficiently by borough workers.
Sometimes you wonder about the money spent….today it worked, Brown said.
Read more about your town by picking up The Coaster at your local newsstand or subscribe today.
Published every Thursday.
