Middletown Reduces Spending By Almost $1 Million

The Middletown Township Committee is slated to introduce their 2015 budget tonight with a spending decrease of $959,463. The total budget as introduced will be $69,437,466 compared to 2014 spending of $70,396,929.

Decreased non-tax revenues, including parking permits and court fees, of $2.8 million and increases in snow removal costs of $1.3 million and insurance costs of $600,000, were off set by savings from shared services agreements with other municipalities and the Middletown Board of Education, as well as utility cost savings for $223,000.

The tax levy on Township property owners will increase $428,484 to $46,964,220, not including the Township Library.  With the library budget of $3,445,649, the overall tax levy increases by $486,502.

“The proposed budget represents an ongoing commitment to protect the quality of core, essential government services such as law enforcement, snow removal, and building inspection,” said Mayor Stephanie Murray. “We will continue to explore ways to further minimize costs and maximize revenues.”

The increased tax levy will cost Middletown property owners $1.57 per month, on average.

“If not for the million dollars we’ve already spent this year on snow removal, there would have been no tax increase,” said Township Committeeman Tony Fiore.

Middletown’s proposed 2015 budget is well below the state-mandated levy cap and remains in full conformance with the state levy cap law. The Township budget makes up only approximately 22% of the average property tax bill, the remaining portion relates to the school and county tax levies.

Posted: March 30th, 2015 | Author: Art Gallagher | Filed under: Middletown, Monmouth County, Monmouth County News | Tags: 2015 Budget, Mayor Stephanie Murray, Middletown, Middletown Township, Property Taxes, Tony Fiore | 1 Comment »

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