POINT PLEASANT — A $22.8 million municipal budget for 2022 was approved during the mayor and council meeting held on April 25.
According to Borough Administrator Frank Pannucci Jr., the total municipal budget is $22,809,706, which equates to .004 of an increase in the municipal tax rate per $100 of assessed valuation.
This would amount to an annual municipal tax bill increase of approximately $15.79 for a property assessed at the borough’s average, $394,783. The increase, roughly 0.04 a day, he said, is one of the lowest rates in recent years.
CFO Himanshu Schah broke down the budget as follows: $1,227,576 in municipal state aid, $65,000 in construction expenditures, $1,993,988 in municipal revenue, $79,000 in municipal court finances and cost, $40,000 in interest investment, $400,000 in delinquent tax, $15,669,142, in the amount to be raised by taxation and an anticipated $2,750,000 to balance the budget. This leaves on hand $2,247,636 in cash fund balance to help with the future budget, he said.
“Coming out of the pandemic and all the trouble we had just like any municipality in the state, we went through loss of revenue, loss of income in many areas,” he said. “Overall, I think we are on the recovery, it looks just and we have to be precautionary on our spending plan which we need to monitor over the coming years until we fully recover from this pandemic.”
Councilman John Wisniewski expressed concerns on the budget’s fund balance surplus, borough assets and ratables. He voted no during the final vote.
The mayor responded to his concerns by saying, “I think we have to realize we have plenty of people who are struggling with dual income… we are using the savings to help the people in our town, the people who live in this town with dual income who have little kids. I think the small tax rate is worth it. I know we are going to regenerate a lot of it. I have no problem with this year’s budget.”
Mr. Schah said, “since I’ve come in we have done a great job in recovery. We are not going back there, that’s guaranteed.”
Councilman Wisniewski agreed and said, “I’m focusing on how we can make it better, but we are light years ahead of where we were.”
This is an excerpt of the print article. For more on this story, read The Ocean Star—on newsstands Friday or online in our e-Edition.
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