Asbury Park taxpayers will get a break their municipal tax rate this year but the exact amount is hard to determine due to a recent citywide property revaluation.
“Regarding the tax rate, you are not looking at apples to apples this year because of the revaluation,” acting Chief Financial Officer Richard Gartz said.
The budget was introduced at the City Council’s March 5 meeting and a public hearing will be scheduled in the future with possible amendments to the budget.
The total $39,242,859 budget is down from last year’s $41,372,555 amount. Gartz said this is due to $1.4 million in Superstorm Sandy-related expenses last year and an unexpected $650,000 for health care payments. Sandy-related costs are expected to be reimbursed by FEMA.
The tax levy, or the amount to be raised through taxations, is $14,980,928, up from $14,477,117.
The municipal tax rate for 2014 will be $1.26 for $100 of assessed valuation but Gartz said it is difficult to compare this year’s tax rate with last year’s because of a recent city-wide property revaluation.
He said that is the average assessed valuation of a home in 2013 is compared with the 2014 assessed valuation then the average homeowner would be paying fewer taxes this year.
He said residential taxpayers bore the burden of 64.5 percent of the tax levy in the 2013 budget, whereas it is only 57.7 percent this year. Commercial properties and rentals pick up the rest.
State aid to the city dropped this year by $517,000, or from $16,942,000 to $16,425,000.
Gartz sad the city can only anticipate 85 percent of state aid in the budget.
The budget is within the state-imposed two-percent increase on spending and has a surplus of $90,000.
