Mt. Laurel residents will be seeing a slight decrease in their taxes to the fire district after the passage of its budget on Feb. 15.
According to the unofficial results of Mt. Laurel Fire District №1’s election, voters passed the proposed 2014 budget 389–109. The proposed budget included a tax rate of 0.244 cents per $100 assessed value. This is a decrease over the 2013 rate of 0.248 cents.
Fire Chief John Colucci said the department was able to lower taxes for residents thanks to a reduction in costs in certain categories.
“We held a line for the last few years,” Colucci said. “It was due to various things such as collective bargaining and employees contributing to health care.”
The total amount of the budget is also down to $9,825,353.87. That is a decrease of $510,813.94 from the 2013 budget. In total, $8,223,613.14 of the budget is raised through taxation. The amount decreased with the reduction in the tax rate. The remaining portion of budget is raised through revenue the fire district collects.
“The difference between that $9.8 million and $8.2 million is what is generated through other sources of revenue,” Colucci said.
In the election for seats on the Board of Fire Commissioners, two candidates ran unopposed. Phil Roura and Robert Shestack were both elected to a three-year term on the board.
A full version of the Mt. Laurel Fire District №1 budget is available to view at www.mountlaurelfire. com.
