JACKSON – Township Council members approved and praised this year’s municipal spending plan represents a 2% rise in the municipal tax rate this year.
For the average homeowner whose home is assessed at $330,688, the increase in taxes will be $3.31. “If your home is accessed at two times that amount it would be $6.62 cents,” Business Administrator Terence Wall said during the budget’s introduction last month.
Wall provided a PowerPoint presentation before the governing body during its introduction and noted that in 2022 the municipal tax levy was $34,641,046.55. The amount to be raised through taxation this year is $35,333,731.02.
“With the hard work of all the department heads and the staff members, we work to ensure that we are conservative on how every single dollar of taxpayer funds are invested and how we conservatively calculate the revenues that are coming in so we have fiscally responsible budgets to ensure that Jackson Township is always the best place to live, work and raise a family,” Wall said.
The council voted unanimously to approve the budget. No members of the public commented on it.
“You guys did a great job again,” Council President Martin Flemming remarked.
Councilwoman Jennifer Kuhn said, “I want to thank the mayor and administration for coming up with yet another successful budget plan and always looking out for the taxpayers of Jackson and allocating monies properly.”
“I’d like to thank the mayor, Mr. Wall and the two ladies sitting in the back row (Chief Financial Officer Sharon Pinkava and Assistant Municipal Treasurer Patricia Schwark) from the finance department for putting together an unbelievable budget,” Councilman Scott Sargent said.
Council Vice President Steven Chisholm added, “I’d like to echo their congratulations. It is another outstanding budget especially in these economic times keeping everything in check and trying to keep our taxes at a stable rate.”
“Only raising our taxes by $3. What costs $3 these days, not even Starbuck’s coffee at this point. Fantastic job by the entire finance team and administration. Thank you, mayor, for that,” Chisholm said.
“Thank you to our township administration for your due diligence on another fiscally responsible budget on a Herculean task with the town’s finances especially in these uncertain financial times,” Councilman Nino Borrelli said.
Borrelli added, “would I have liked to see the municipal tax rate stay as is or get cut, sure and it would also make for a great headline but understand we have to be practical especially for the very difficult economic environment that we are in with the cost of everything going up dramatically.”
“The times we are in are beyond our local government’s control but our township professionals have done a really good job in keeping the municipal tax rate to a minimum while raising the amount of services across the board for Jackson residents,” he added.
Borrelli noted the township’s method of paying for major projects like road improvements without having to bond or borrow. “Our town has an excellent bond rating, AA, so we are in a strong financial position.”
A bond rating is like a credit score but for a town.
Township miscellaneous revenue exceeded the budget totals by $2,428,225.95 in 2022. That was due to increases in fees from permits such as construction, and interests on investments. The unanticipated revenue was $1,064,567.23 which included funds from the solar farm lease ($120,000), tower rental, off duty surcharge tax collection and rental registration.
Wall also said that public safety was the community’s number one priority and was reflected in the budget through police, fire, emergency services and road improvement projects.
The budget is available for a detailed review on the township website at jacksontwpnj.net
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