Budget and all of its 'Hurdles' Presented in Red Bank

At a special public presentation at the Red Bank Senior Center Thursday night, borough officials discussed the 2011 budget, as well as the hurdles they say are responsible for the tax increase that comes along with it.

Though officials stressed that they are not done tinkering with the recently introduced budget due for a public hearing later this month, the budget of more than $19.9 million, as it stands, is nearly $600,000 larger than last year’s.

More than $11.5 million of the budget will be raised through the local tax levy. The tax rate per $100 of assessed property value is 51 cents, an increase of 2.6 cents over last year’s levy. The owner of a home assessed at $403,696, the average in the area, will pay $105 more in taxes.

Borough Business Administrator Stanley Sickles said the increase was unavoidable. Successful tax appeals are costing Red Bank nearly $400,000, pension and health care costs for public employees continue to rise, and the costs associated with this winter’s severe snowstorms – all listed under the header “Hurdles to Overcome” in the presentation – together account for nearly $1 million of the borough’s budget.

“We did reduce our budget by about $480,000” he told the gathered crowd of 14 public officials and just four residents before adding that the increases were beyond Red Bank’s control.

Though tax appeals and increases in benefits are annual expectations, the storms that hit Monmouth County this winter leaving record amounts of snow truly do fall into the category of unforeseen. In all, snow emergency-related costs rose to more than half a million dollars over the season, though Sickles said the total was split over two budgets.

With state of emergencies being declared at both a local and state level, and with Red Bank presumably seeking to recoup some of the cost of snow removal from FEMA, it’s likely that the $241,700 in 2011 snowstorm costs could be decreased in time.

Councilman Michael DuPont, also a member of the borough’s finance committee, promised that Red Bank would continue to make adjustments to the budget before its adoption on April 26.

“This is just a work in progress,” he said. “There will be additional cuts, and changes made.”

One thing out of the borough’s control is the loss of revenue from tax-exempt properties. More than 16 percent of Red Bank’s properties, totaling nearly $375 million in property value, are off the tax rolls.

The issue of tax-exempt properties and their effect on the budget is something Sickles said he makes a point to bring up each year. The average percentage of tax-exempt properties in nearby towns is 5.3, he said, and only Middletown to the north broaches the 10 percent mark at 10.2 percent.

DuPont voiced his frustrations over the lack of interest at the state level at making up, or at least acknowledging, the difference.

“Our debt is down 5.5 percent. There have been real cuts made, reductions in salaries, the borough’s workforce has been reduced,” he lamented. “And yet, none of our legislators are advocating for the borough.”