Shamong Township residents will see a slight increase in municipal taxes this year.
The Shamong Township Committee unanimously passed the 2016 municipal budget at the Tuesday, May 3 meeting. Shamong residents living in the average assessed home of just less than $308,000 will pay an extra $61.60 in annual municipal taxes.
The budget will see a two-cent increase in the local purpose tax, from 6.4 cents to 8.4 cents, Township Auditor Robert Inverso said. He also said the budget is well within the appropriation cap and the levy cap does not apply for less than 10 cents.
After obtaining $3.24 million in revenue last year, the township is now anticipating $3.17 million in 2016. However, this drop of more than $69,000 will likely be significantly decreased by revenue that is not anticipated by the township. The township doesn’t build this number into the budget because it doesn’t have an established number yet, and the administration views it as a nice addition to the surplus down the road.
Revenues and appropriations are relatively the same as last year at $3.17 million.
There is also a difference in surplus for this year. The surplus anticipated in 2015 was $1.2 million, and this year it is $1.1 million because the available surplus is $1.15 million, according to Inverso.
“If it is a good budget, you replace your surplus. The challenge is going to be getting that $1.1 million back this year,” Inverso said.
At the previous committee meeting, township officials let residents know it had received a $220,000 grant from the state Department of Transportation to repair Oak Shade Road and a $150,000 Burlington County Municipal Park Grant, which the committee plans to put toward the repaving of the tennis courts at Dingletown and also the tennis and basketball courts at Stony Creek.
The committee has been aggressive in the pursuit of these grants to help lessen the blow for taxpayers.
It is also still waiting for some potential good news from the Federal Emergency Management Agency regarding funds it could be awarded from winter storm Jonas.
Copies of the budget can be found at the township website, www.shamong.net, and by searching “budget” and clicking the Township Budget Information link.
The next committee meeting will be on Tuesday, May 24 at 7:30 p.m. at the Township Municipal Building, 105 Willow Grove Road.
