The township council reluctantly adopted the municipal budget with a tax increase of $59 per year for the average assessed home of $271,200, after tabling it numerous times since March.
Mayor Randy Brown has been pushing for support for state Senate bill 1896, which would make other entities responsible for tax appeal losses. The movement of the bill has been the motive to hold off on making decisions on the budget, and why the township has been reluctant to make any decision.
Brown was determined to make the Evesham Township School District, the Lenape Regional High School District and the fire district discuss a possible resolution through freezing August payments that are due to the organizations. According to Brown, the boards of education both wrote letters to the state commissioner of education, which did not yield a response.
“It is with deep regret I vote yes on this budget,” Brown said. “It is the most frustrating decision I have had to make in the seven years sitting up here.”
According to Brown, if the council did not adopt the budget, the state would have to come in and take over the process.
“The last thing I want is to subject our 50,000 residents with the incompetence going on in Trenton,” Brown said. “Trenton is broken.”
Brown noted New Jersey is not a “tax friendly” state and the system is “archaic.”
According to council member Bob DiEnna, if the township passed a flat budget with no increase in taxes, the township would have to lay off 10 police officers, six public works and three clerical employees.
“My allegiance is not to Democrats or Republicans, it’s to the 50,000 residents in this township,” Brown said
In other news:
• Evesham Township Police Chief Christopher Chew was sworn in to his new position after serving as captain. Chew took on the role of acting chief upon the retirement of former chief Mike Barth in late June.
“It’s been a lifelong, career dream of mine,” Chew said. “It became more important to me to continue forward for me and achieve my dream, which is to become a police chief.”
According to Chew, there will be some structural, deployment changes and upgrades in the technology the department utilizes. He is also planning to expand community outreach.
“They’re still in the process of creating our command staff,” Chew said.
Chew has been with the department for 17 years, working as a police officer since 1997. Chew plans on upholding the accreditation, originally put in motion by Barth.
“It’s the backbone of this organization. It’s the gold standard for law enforcement. Not only am I committed to it, but the entire organization is committed to it,” Chew said. “We want to employ the best practices.”
Chew thanked the council for its continued support of the department. He especially thanked township manager Bill Cromie, who was Chew’s captain when he joined the force.
“He taught me what to do and how to do it,” Chew said.
• The township will be holding a special meeting to discuss the redevelopment/revitalization plan for 15 properties, broken into lots, throughout the township.
According to Leah Furey Bruder, township Planning and Zoning Board planner, there are numerous lots and locations that can be broken into seven or eight lots.
Olgas, G Boys and Tri Towne have all been designated as redevelopment and blighted, and Aristone properties have been classified as revitalization but not blighted.
“Typically, we want to make a redevelopment area more inviting and change them significantly,” Bruder said.
According to Bruder, residential lots were not included in the revitalization and redevelopment property list. Additionally, the council discussed downtown revitalization, and which way the township could go, including tax incentives, state grants and state funding to upgrade downtown.
“We get $250,000 for a state parks grant. A quarter of a million could go a long way downtown,” Brown said.
Brown also inquired about borrowing as a possible solution.
For more information on the next meeting, visit evesham-nj.gov.
