Mayor's Message 
2010 Budget Message - June 1, 2010
Enclosed herewith, I am proposing a 2010 budget that will result in a net decrease in municipal property taxes despite a nearly $400,000 loss in state aid, an increase in county fees for shared services, extraordinary snow removal/storm damage expenses, and pre-existing contractual obligations increasing salaries by 4.5% this year. Left untouched, these fixed increases in expenses and other reductions in revenues due to current economic conditions would have resulted in nearly a 10% increase in municipal taxes. Instead, my proposed budget achieves a net decrease in the municipally controlled portion of residential property tax bills, which represents just 23% of all residential property taxes in Tinton Falls.
Specifically, under this proposal, the municipal purposes tax would increase 1.26 cents. This represents an increase of $16 for the year ($1.35 per month) for the average Tinton Falls homeowner with a property assessed at $337,013. This increase, however, will be offset by the reduction in the open space tax going into effect this year. Accordingly, the average Tinton Falls homeowners' property tax bill will decrease by $9.00 for the year ($0.75 per month). My proposal includes decreases in departmental operating expenses by as much as 20%, cuts in salaries and benefits of top management, and downsizing of the Borough's workforce through attrition. Further, employee contracts were re-negotiated 6 months ahead of schedule to include increased health benefits contributions of 2.5%, retiree health benefits contributions and other caps. Overall, these new contracts contain the lowest net wage increases in the Borough in the last 20 years.
Although Borough operating expenses were cut, services are not affected by this budget. Borough services were actually improved this year with investments in new technology and equipment to replace the aging public works and police vehicles. This includes the new single stream-recycling program, which utilizes fewer resources, costs less money and increases overall productivity.
This budget ensures long-term fiscal stability. It increases the Borough's surplus reserve to more than twice its current size. This budget does not artificially raise revenue forecasts to balance the budget; in fact, it conservatively anticipates even less revenue. Nor does this budget include gimmicks or one-time injections of money that will disappear next year. Moving forward, I am going to continue to seek out additional cost saving measures and ask the Borough Council to work with me to continue to do the same with actions such as moving the Borough's elections from May to November. I look forward to Council's consideration of this proposal and the adoption of the same in the near future. I remain open to reasonable amendments that will help ensure future fiscal stability in the Borough.
Respectfully Submitted,
Mayor Michael Skudera