Municipal taxes going up $88 on avg. home
Mayor and council trade barbs over newly adopted budget
BY MICHAEL ACKER
Staff Writer

"The Democrats, under Rory Zach, cut each department by 5 percent. " - Thomas Pollando Council President

SAYREVILLE -- Residents will see an increase of 6.2 cents on the municipal portion of their property tax bills under a new municipal budget.

The Borough Council adopted the 2006 budget, which totals $44.5 million, during its meeting Sept. 5. The budget has risen $2 million from last year's spending plan, according to figures provided by the borough.

The tax rate is 80.4 cents per $100 of assessed property value, up from last year's 74.2 cents. The increase means that a borough homeowner whose property is assessed at the average of $142,500 will pay $88 more in municipal taxes,

The same resident is absorbing a 15-cent increase in school taxes for the 2006-07 school year, or $213 on the average home.

Major areas of increase in the municipal budget, according to Borough Chief Financial Officer Wayne Kronowski, are a $476,000 jump in employee medical insurance, a $75,000 increase in liability workers compensation, approximately $410,000 more in contributions to the pension system, a $17,000 increase in salaries and wages, and a $320,000 increase in utilities such as electric, gas and fuel for vehicles.

Sayreville

"We introduced a 9.9-cent increase and we were able to get it down to 6.2 cents in the face of those increases," Kronowski said.

The borough's statutory appropriation for libraries increased by $189,000 due to the rise in the assessed value of homes in Sayreville, Kronowski said. The rise in home values can be attributed to the construction of new homes he added, leading to the increase based on the formula for the statutory minimum library appropriations.

"Unfortunately, it is a long process," Kronowski said, "because we had to wait until the state figures came in, and that was not until the latter part of July."

Officials did make cuts in several departmental budgets, including public works, police and fire materials and supplies, which were cut by about 5 percent in order to lower the impact of the tax increase, Kronowski said.

"It was due to the efforts of the mayor and council and the department heads that we were able to get it down," Kronowski said. The departments that made cuts were able to work with the council in trying to provide the same amount of service with less money this year, Kronowski added.

The borough received extraordinary aid from the state in the amount of $300,000 to use towards the budget. It also received $450,000 from the Sayreville Economic Redevelopment Agency in back taxes from properties sold as delinquent from the original property owners.

At a Borough Council meeting July 3, Republican Mayor Kennedy O'Brien said taxpayer money should be allocated with care during the budget process.

"It has always been one of my goals to be prudent with the taxpayers' money," O'Brien said. "To deliver the best possible service for the best possible value."

But O'Brien told the Suburban he does not feel that was done with the budget the council adopted last week.

"It is too high," he said. "It hurts the taxpayer. I disagree with the way a lot of the money is spent."

Democratic Councilman Rory Zach, who heads the Administration and Finance Committee, was skeptical of O'Brien's claims that the budget is too high.

"It is easier for him to say that the budget is too high than to contribute anything productive," Zach said. "We had numerous meetings and we got the 9.9-cent increase that we started with down to 6 cents.

While the tax increase is not as low as Zach would have liked, he added that officials did not want to cut programs or consider layoffs.

Council President Thomas Pollando also disagreed with O'Brien's contentions, noting that the council did not reduce services.

"He opposes something he was never involved in," Pollando said. "As far as I am concerned, he did nothing to help [decrease] the budget. On the other hand, the Democrats, under Rory Zach, cut each department by 5 percent. We went to Trenton and got $300,000 in extraordinary aid, which is how we got it down to 6.2 cents."

O'Brien said he is puzzled by the fact that the Borough of Metuchen, which is less than half the size of Sayreville, received $500,000 in extraordinary aid from the state, while Sayreville received $300,000.

"I was very disappointed in the discretionary aid we received," O'Brien said. "The people of Sayreville are hardworking and follow the rules, and we do not seem to be recognized for that. They reward the wealthy, but not the middle class."