By WILLIAM CLARK
The Neptune Township budget will be increasing by just 1 percent.
Chief Financial Officer Michael Bascom detailed the new municipal budget at the most recent Township Committee Meeting.
Although the budget overall will be expanding, tax rates will fall to 52.5 cents per $100 dollars of assessed value, down from the 58.6 cents it was last year.
Bascom highlighted that the budget would include no loss of services in terms of recreation, public safety or public works in part due to the revenue generated by the taxation on cannabis sales.
“This is a first time investment where we’re taking the funds that came in from cannabis tax and using it for parks and public safety programs,” he said. “So we start to see the benefit, not just the revenue of cannabis but actually seeing improvements in the community.”
Bascom said the township has kept up its facilities and equipment even though the township was not immune to increasing costs that have impacted the larger economy
“We continued to significantly invest in our roadways, training centers, infrastructure, parks and playgrounds,” he said. “We continue to weather difficult financial times just like everybody else has.”
Bascom, like Mayor Tassie York several weeks ago, warned residents that municipal budgets and taxation are not the same as the costs associated with the township Board of Education. Although the municipal tax rate will decrease, the Neptune Township school district continues to bear the brunt of loss of state funds associated with the funding formula known as S2.
Neptune’s share of state funds has been slashed by $25 million since 2018, with a $4 million cut this most recent round.
Bascom criticized the state doling out over $900 million in increases to school funding this year while continuing to cut money from Neptune.
Bascom also revealed that there is a shortfall between what the state is supposed to provide in funding to the municipality and what the township actuary receives.
“So while the state law says we’re supposed to receive roughly $11 million in state aid, we actually received just over $5 million from the state,” he said. “So we’re suffering but we’re doing everything we can to deal with it.”
Warehouse, Public Park Planned
The Township Committee also passed a resolution approving the redevelopment of the site at the corner of Green Grove Road and Route 66.
A 250,000-square- foot warehouse, 15,000-square-feet of retail space and a public park will be built on the dilapidated site. The park will be open to the public and the cost to maintain the area will be the responsibility of the land owners. The park will feature a playground, picnic areas, exercise equipment and bike racks.
School Superintendent Dr. Tami Crader addressed the committee during the workshop session regarding shared services and other updates. Crader also lamented the loss of state aid and the impact it has had on student services and programming.
Mayor York said that joint meetings between the committee and school board were once a common practice to inform residents but had fallen off in the past few years.