Mantua Township Administrator Jennica Bileci presented the adopted 2023 municipal budget at a council meeting earlier this month.
“It’s been a long six or seven months that we’ve been planning this budget, going through it and making changes and trying to get the best overall document that we can have for the public and for the township to sustain our operations,” she said.
Belici said the township’s most recent accomplishments include zero audit findings for 2021, something she attributed to a high-quality work ethic from council’s financial team. Belici also recognized the tire amnesty program; March marked tire amnesty month in Gloucester County.
“ … What we did this year was that we actually asked residents to put your tires out and we will physically pick them up for you,” Bileci noted. “ … (Public works Superintendent) Glenn (DeMers) reported that we picked up 187 tires, so obviously the tire amnesty program is working. And it helps keep our streets clean (by) taking tires off people’s properties that they otherwise wouldn’t know what to do with.”
Bileci also noted the township’s efforts to use social media such as YouTube more often to communicate with residents.
“It’s really a great way to get our message out to give the residents of our town a chance to see who we are, and what we have to offer in terms of different events going through the township,” she said.
Bileci also went over budget goals for 2023, including minimizing the tax burden, fully staffing the police department after a number of retirements last year and delivering services more efficiently.
“We all know that taxes in New Jersey are just too high,” she acknowledged. “We understand that. But we try our best to keep our local rate low while still providing all the same level of services.”
The township’s proposed budget of $17.45 million reflects a $529,000 increase compared with last year’s financial plan. Appropriations are below those capped by $375,000, and the budget also includes a $1.5-million capital plan for road repavement and resurfacing, police vehicles and improvements to parks and public works.
“The budget also calls for a decrease in the local (tax) rate,” Bileci explained. “It went from 0.71 to 0.51, so it’s a 20-cent decrease … With the new rate, an average assessed home at $311,000 will see total property taxes of about $11,000. Of total tax dollars, about $2,300 comes to the municipality, so that’s what we’re responsible for, out of the total bill that you pay.”
The township received funding from several grants, including: $75,000 for a rubberized playground that will offset some of the costs of playground surfacing at Chestnut Branch Park, $25,000 for the township’s mapping and GIS (Geographic Information System) for stormwater, and a $3,000 sustainable communities grant that helped pay for sustainable trash cans at the park.
After the presentation Mayor Robert Zimmerman thanked Bileci; Michael Welding from Bowman & Company Welding, who was at the meeting to answer questions; and council members for their work on the budget, and also recognized other departments for their service to residents.
“There’s a lot of effort that goes into this, and we whittle it down to get it to where we need it to be,” Zimmerman observed. “We value the services we have here in Mantua Township. We value our police department, our public works – which are predominantly the things that most of our residents see on the front lines, so to speak.”
“We value the staffing and the personnel that we have in all the offices and the work that they do,” he added. “It’s a cooperative effort.”
For more information on the July 10 meeting, visit https://mantuatownship.com.
