Stable State Aid for Bernards Budget to be Introduced April 9

State aid to Bernards Township, a figure that will be plugged into the 2013 municipal budget, is $1,798,308 for 2013, the same amount as last year, said Township Chief Financial Officer Terri Johnson.

Johnson said the township plans to introduce this year's municipal budget at the April 9 meeting of the Township Committee. A public hearing and adoption date is anticipated for May 14, Johnson said on Wednesday.

Township Administrator Bruce McArthur said last year that the state aid figure had also been stable in 2011 and 2010.

In 2012, the Township Committee adopted a $35,070,746 municipal budget. That budget translated into an increase of about $58 on the average township home from last year, slightly breaking the township's six-year streak of keeping the municipal portion of the average home at less than it was in 2005.

The municipal portion of the tax bill on the average township home assessed last year at $577,394 was about $1,836, or about $36 more than it was in 2005.

Although the total budget in 2012 actually had dropped from 2011, township revenues also were almost $670,000 less than in 2011, including a loss of grant money and reserves set aside in various accounts, according to the township's figures.

In 2012, the township settled its contract with police unions, and also had to absorb the unanticipated cost of responding to Hurricane Sandy. McArthur estimated that last Oct. 29.