The Maplewood Township Committee has decided to defer the introduction of the 2015 municipal budget.
The committee had discussed the draft budget at its March 3 meeting, where Township CFO Juan Uribe reported a shortfall of $700,000, which would represent a 5.6% tax increase. At that meeting, Township Administrator Joseph Manning said that township staff would look at additional options for finding savings or deferring payments.
By Tuesday, March 17, however, the budget was still not sufficiently reduced, although Uribe had worked to lower that tax increase. “We’re still not happy where the numbers are,” said Mayor Vic DeLuca.
The budget introduction will be deferred to the committee’s April 7 meeting. Now that the municipality is sending the budget to the state later than the original deadline of March 13 (or the first Township Committee meeting thereafter), the town could be subject to a $25 per day fine.
The committee did vote 5-0 to introduce an ordinance to establish a cap bank of up to 3.5%. This gives the township the option to go over the 2% tax increase cap if it determines it is necessary.
There were a number of factors that contributed to the higher budget this year; among them an unexpected, large 2014 bill from the state for retroactive employee pensions, and the loss of a big account in sewer fee payments. On March 3, Uribe said the town was looking into all possible options to bring the 2% cap into compliance, though town officials were loathe to use the banked cap to raise taxes above that.
When the town does not exceed the amount of allowable appropriations per year, it can bank that amount to use as taxing authority in future years. The town has $2.5 million in banked cap.
Committeeman Marlon K. Brownlee reiterated on Tuesday that while he would vote to establish the banked cap, he would prefer not to use it.
