Tax Increase In Chester's Future Under Adopted Township Budget

CHESTER, NJ — The Chester Township Council voted to adopt the 2023 municipal budget at their public meeting last week.

The $16.4 million spending plan would mean a municipal tax increase of $59 on the average Chester Township property valued at $663,400, township officials said.

Both Chester Township Mayor Mike Inganamort and Chester Township Finance Director Derek Macchia presented the final budget to the council and public on Tuesday, May 2. They said that this year's budget was one of the most difficult in almost 10 years.

The cost increase was primarily attributed to the state's continued cost increase, which put the township well above the two percent tax cap. For example, state-mandated spending rose by $128,123, while contractual spending rose by $317,534.

Chester Township was hit with an 18.20 percent one-year increase of $209,329 under the new healthcare proposals mandated by the state.

Another significant increase highlighted by Inganamort was the 123.31 percent, or $547,500, increase in garbage collection costs, which had been discussed for months leading up to the budget.

As a result, the township established a new municipal utility to serve as the garbage payment mechanism, through which residents will receive an annual garbage collection bill in the mail in the amount of $400.

Although the budget comes in at more than $16 million, the amount to be raised by taxes is $9,056,816. According to Inganamort, the remaining funds will come from a variety of sources, including grants, shared services and money from the fund balance.

"In this budget, we used approximately $2.25 million of fund balance," Inganamort said.

To balance the budget and avoid exceeding the two percent property tax levy and appropriations caps, township officials had to cut other areas of the budget. The planned budget cuts include eliminating any additional funding for road paving and snow removal.

The council said that despite an approximate $257,674 decrease in discretionary spending, the mandatory and contractual increases still leave the budget with an estimated effective tax rate of $0.498, an increase over last year's rate of $0.489.

The budget was unanimously adopted following its introduction, with no members of the public speaking out during the hearing.