By ROBERT LINNEHAN
For less than your monthly cable bill Haddonfield residents receive track and recycling pickup, fire and police services, and snow and leaf collection throughout the year, Commissioner Ed Borden reported Tuesday night. The commissioners unanimously approved of the borough’s 2011 $13.99 million budget, which includes an $87 increase in the municipal portion of tax bill for the average homeowner.
For the average homeowner with a home assessed at $491,359, Borden said that the borough’s portion of the tax bill totals $2,200 for a year, or $185 a month. For many this is less than a month of cable, he said.
“There’s nothing at all cheap about property taxes in New Jersey or Haddonfield,” Borden said. “But I’d like everyone to take that equation into consideration.”
Borden said that Haddonfield also has the lowest property tax bill as compared to fair market value of Haddonfield’s property in Camden County. It’s also the tenth lowest in South Jersey, he said, behind nine municipalities in Burlington County.
Spending in the 2011 budget is increasing by about $123,000 over the 2010 budget, Commissioner Jeff Kasko said. This is less than a 1 percent increase, he said.
To deal with the 2 percent tax cap, increasing costs at the state level, and a drop in revenues the borough has had to make several service cuts for 2011, Mayor Tish Colombi said.
“I think this is the year where you will really start to feel a difference in services,” Colombi said.
The borough has privatized its trash collection services, reduced its department of public works staff to eight employees, and reduced its leaf collection service for next fall. This past fall the borough had six leaf collection cycles, Colombi said, but will reduce that number to just three for this fall.
Of course, the municipal court was also moved to Audubon. Cuts at the information center, operations and expenses for the police department, and the senior center will result in savings as well.
