Slight Tax Increase Proposed For Summit Residents In 2022 Budget

SUMMIT, NJ — The bulk of Summit Common Council's meeting last week featured a breakdown of the city's municipal budget for 2022, which includes a slight tax increase for residents.

City Administrator Michael Rogers presented the new budget on Tuesday, April 5. He said for the average assessed home in Summit, which is valued at $425,988, the average tax increase is $140 more for 2022.

The municipal portion of taxes also saw a 1.98 percent increase from last year.

In total, Summit is proposing a $64 million budget for 2022. This includes an operating budget of $52 million, which is up 1.3 percent from last year, as well as a $2.1 million capital budget, a $7 million sewer utility budget and a $2.4 parking services utility budget.

Rogers explained that the majority, 46 percent, of taxes go toward the school district, and the town gets about 20 percent.

In terms of challenges in the new budget, Rogers said revenue is the biggest problem the city is currently facing.

"Revenue has been a problem for a number of years now," Rogers said. "This year, while we saw improvement in some of the revenue items, we're still not where we were back in 2019."

The city's interest on investment, or deposit earnings, is 83 percent lower than it was in 2019 when it collected $522K. This year, the city anticipates about $100K in earnings.

Rogers said municipal court fees are also on a downward trend since 2019. The average amount collected from court fees in 2019 was $500K, and Rogers said this year the city only anticipates about $200K.

Another significant loss to revenue was due to parking services, Rogers said. Parking revenue improved in 2021, but it's still $1 million lower than the 2019 realized amount.

Rogers added that municipal debt obligations rose by $600K this year, and he said debt continues to rise every year.

Recycling curbside collection is expected to double in cost, and the city increased its wages for crossing guards, which are added costs for Summit. General liability/worker's compensation insurance and Police and Fire pension obligations both rose this year, as well.

On the bright side, Rogers said the Summit Family Aquatic Center had its best year with a $125K revenue increase. Municipal court fees and hotel/motel occupancy fees are in the process of recovering.

Conversely, the city is receiving less revenue from cable T.V. franchise fees.

Another major contribution was $118K from FEMA Cares Act to offset COVID-19 pandemic costs, and $100K was allocated toward the general capital surplus fund from canceled projects.

As part of the 2022 capital budget, Rogers shared a variety of improvements that the city will be funding. This includes $230K for the Fire Department to provide a new firehouse alerting system, new gear, equipment and fire hose replacement.

The Police Department will receive $100K to replace front-line patrol vehicles, and the Department of Community Services will receive $855K for a number of major road improvement projects, as well as a micropaving program, traffic signal upgrades, pedestrian safety improvements, storm water maintenance and more.

Capital money will also go toward improving the Mabie playground and the basketball court, as well as other park furnishings.

The full budget presentation and council meeting can be viewed on Summit's YouTube channel below.

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