Haddonfield Budget Increases by Just More Than 1%

The Haddonfield borough budget was introduced on Tuesday with a 1.32 percent increase in spending. It was presented at a Board of Commissioners action meeting at the Municipal Hall.

For a typical homeowner with a property valued at the borough average of $491,359, it will mean a $89 increase in taxes to support municipal government. The typical taxpayer will pay $2,393 for borough government and a total of about $12,000 for school, county and borough taxes.

Borough officials cited a $19 million decrease in assessed property valuation in Haddonfield with fueling part of the tax hike.

"The decrease in the property assessed valuation is equivalent to $21 a year on the average assessed property," a budget statement said. "The largest line-item increase is reflected in the health benefits, which increased $237,000. This is primarily due to significant rising costs for prescription plans, which were inflated 24 percent for 2013."

The decrease in property valuation was due to successful tax appeals, officials said. The total budget is $15,580,666.60, of which $10,889,268.71 will be raised through property taxes.

A budget hearing will be held on April 23 at 7:30 at the Municipal Hall before a final vote to approve it.