MANASQUAN — The mayor and council met on May 5 and unanimously voted to introduce the municipal budget totaling $14,774,549 in total general revenues. The budget equates to a $67 annual increase in municipal taxes on the average household.
The budget features an $8,684,446 increase in taxes, a 3.34% increase over last year. For the average assessed home in Manasquan of $661,862, taxpayers will be paying $2,720 in municipal taxes, a $67 increase from last year’s bill of $2,653.
Councilman Jay Bryant, chair of the administration and finance committee, credited the council and borough professionals involved in putting together this year’s budget, calling it “sustainable, predictable and responsible.”
This year’s municipal tax rate will be 0.411 per capita, an increase of one cent from last year’s rate of 0.404. This means that each Manasquan resident will pay approximately 41 cents for each $100 worth of property they own in the borough.
“It reflects the hard work of all the people in the borough. I just want to thank (Chief Financial Officer) Amy Spera for all her hard work and everybody in the administration, as well as all the department heads and all the people in the borough for their hard work in planning for the budget, living within our means and providing good services for our community,” Bryant said.
The adopted 2025 municipal budget features a current fund of $13,980,059. According to the budget presentation, within the current fund, appropriations include $5,028,070 for water and sewer utilities, $1,009,740 for operating expenses, $350,653 for professional fees, $1,047,000 for insurance, $1,091,250 for garbage and recycling, $232,500 for utilities, $1,247,843 for statutory expenses, $612,433 for contributions and interlocals, $60,074 for grants, $487,500 for capital improvements, $1,981,049 for debt service and $804,945 for reserve for uncollected taxes.
The budget lists a water and sewer utility fund of $3,657,651. The appropriations from the water and sewer utility fund include $643,950 for salaries and wages, $629,188 for operating expenses, $1,454,358 for the South Monmouth Regional Sewer Authority, $150,000 for capital improvements, $565,402 for debt services, $105,000 for deferred charges and $109,752 for statutory expenses.
The beach utility fund of $3,170,260 appropriates $1,645,750 for salaries and wages, $873,902 for operating expenses, $59,150 for capital improvements, $214,204 for debt services, $125,000 for deferred charges, $150,254 for statutory expenses and $102,000 of surplus to the general budget.
Improvements for Stockton Lake, Winterstella Park, roads
The presentation highlighted several major capital projects for 2025 and the grants that have been received to assist in the funding of each project: First Avenue improvements phase three with a $209,528 grant, Winterstella Park with a $174,000 grant, Stockton Lake phase three with a grant worth $274,290, Stockton Lake bulkhead with a grant worth $1,750,000, the replacement of the borough hall siding and basketball court resurfacing.
After a round of applause following the unanimous adoption of the budget, Mayor Mike Mangan reflected on another successful budget introduction and the bipartisan collaboration of the council: “When there’s applause over something like this, it’s because it’s so important… We don’t talk about that a lot, but it’s so important that we work together and this is another great example of that.”
Councilman Gregg Olivera added, “It has become the department of the redundancy department, every year. Not to be facetious, but you can predict it almost to the dollar based on the hard work that this group on the dais and people in the office and also the public have provided us. It’s just been an excellent job.”
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