Garwood Budget Would Include 3.8 Percent Tax Hike

Garwood Councilwoman and Finance Committee Chair Sara Todisco presented the 2012 municipal budget at Tuesday night's council meeting.

"The bottom line is that we are maintaining all Garwood services, while staying within the governor's two-percent cap," said Todisco. This year's budget also includes increased funding for recreation and seniors. 

The total tax increase is 3.8 percent over last year, 10.51 tax points, which equates to an increase of $105 per 100,000 in residents' assessed home value. See a PDF of the full budget in our gallery, right.

"The extra funding for seniors is to make up for the difference from cut HUD funding," explained Todisco. "HUD (Housing and Urban Development) funds were cut significantly, so we raised their funding significantly so the seniors wouldn't feel the difference."

Todisco said increased funding for recreation ($2,000 more than last year) is "to help a department that has seen cuts every year."

Todisco also explained that the library had excess reserve funds that they were willing to donate back to the borough. However, because their total excess funds did not reach $46,000, the funds cannot legally be defined as a surplus and donated back to the borough. Instead, the new budget raises the library's in-kind fees to $46,000 (fees the borough charges the library to provide health benefits, social security, pensions, administrative work), which is equal to what those benefits cost the borough. Previously, the in-kind fees were $8,000 lower than what the benefits actually cost and the borough paid the difference, according to Todisco. 

The budget will have its public hearing on April 10th at 7 p.m. at Borough Hall. The public is welcome to attend and bring up any concerns or questions they have regarding the budget.