Municipal Budget Includes $1.9 Million in Capital Spending

The Township Committee will be including $1.9 million in capital projects for the 2013-14 budget, as agreed upon at Thursday’s budget workshop meeting.

Complete budget figures have yet to be provided and are expected to be finalized early next week, Chief Financial Officer Adrian Fanning said.

An April 10 budget workshop meeting revealed that the municipal spending plan could potentially carry a 3-cent tax rate bump. Between the township, school and county budgets, Lacey residents can expect to see taxes increase approximately $420 a year. Taxes will increase $235 for the average homeowner for schools alone.

While municipal departments made $3.9 million in capital requests, the township narrowed the list down to $1.9 million. In 2012, $1.8 million in capital requests was included in the budget.

“This capital budget is a plan,” Fanning said, adding that the numbers can be modified between now and the time the budget is introduced.

The township will have to put down 5 percent or $91,021 of that $1.9 million, Fanning said.

Capital requests for the upcoming budget include everything from a street sweeper and a security fence for the police department to the engineering of the Deerhead Lake drainage project and improvements to the Forked River Beach Bay Front Park.

“I’m very happy we’re moving forward with a number of these projects,” Committeeman Sean Sharkey said, pinpointing Deerhead Lake and the Forked River Beach, which are “vital” to restoring Lacey to the waterfront community that it once was.

A list of capital projects factored into the budget can be found here.

The budget will be introduced at the regular Committee meeting at 7 p.m. on April 25.