Mayor: Tax Rate May Have Stayed Flat Without Sandy and Tax Appeals

The Holmdel Township Committee and township administrators said had it not been for Sandy expenses and tax appeals, Holmdel's tax rate wouldn't have increased.

The township budget, a total increase of $669,416 from last year, will increase the municipal tax bill by 5.2 percent after the committee approval Tuesday night.

But administrators said the tax appeal process continues to dig Holmdel in a hole.

Tax appeals

A tax appeal won by a resident includes a full refund of the difference. However, the township must pay that full amount despite every tax bill being made up of county, school and municipal rates.

"The Board of Education skates and the county skates," Mayor Patrick Impreveduto said. "We get caught with it."

Tax appeals cost the township $182,000 in 2012. In the last few years, the most tax appeals have cost Holmdel was $695,000 in 2009.

The municipal budget makes up 17 percent of the entire tax bill, while the county costs 16 percent and the school 67 percent.

"I don't think the public is aware of the process of what happens when a major taxpayer makes an appeal," Committeeman Joseph Ponisi said. "We have to front that money to everyone else, so the school district is made whole and the township is the one that is affected."

Sandy

Sandy cost Holmdel $3 million, to be paid at $600,000 per year for five years.

"It's safe to say that without Superstorm Sandy, our budget could have been posted flat," Impreveduto said. 

FEMA reimbursements for Holmdel's expenses have not been announced, or hit the bank yet.

Open Space

In addition to appeals and Sandy costs, committee members said the Open Space tax continues to be a problem for Holmdel.

"The levy is about $133,000 short, which comes out of our general fund budget," Ponisi said. "Until this starts to rebound, that's going to be a drag on the overall budget."

Impreveduto said no one on the committee is against open space, but the levy has cost the township more than half a million from its budget over the last three years.

"We were not the committee, nor the majority, that paid over $2 million for a piece of land for open space," Impreveduto said. "We are trying to pay down the debt for the sins of the past."

Revenue

The budget has decreased one-time revenue deals by $1.125 million, and does not incorporate deferred school taxes.

"The projection is that within two years, we won't be using that either," said 

Total general revenues are expected to hit more than $20 million, but the budget document shows a decrease compared to 2012 of about $1.3 million.

The budget shows revenue decreases in the Board of Education's repayment of the Roggy Project, as well as smaller areas such as the Uniform Fire Safety Act and the Clean Communities Program.

Bottom line

Township CFO Jeanette M. Larrison said an average residential home assessment of $617,061 will see an increase of $111 on their bill.

The budget increase equals $669,416 for a total budget of $20,607,850 according to Larrison.

The budget calls for $13,818,805 to be raised by taxation.

Of that budget, $15,785,916 is qualifies under the statutory 2 percent cap. Expenses allowed over the cap include benefits and pension and emergency expenses such as those related to Superstorm Sandy.

"Township expenditures, over the past several years, have steadily declined through changes in health care insurance carriers, reductions in staff, ch. 78 and pension reform laws and therefore have not exceeded the CAP provision," Larrison said.