Wyckoff March 21, 2012 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • Page 3 Municipal-purpose budget includes $37 tax increase by John Koster Municipal-purpose taxes on the average Wyckoff house, now assessed at $811,000, will increase $37 based on the budget the Wyckoff Township Committee introduced last week. “We have the leanest – I would not call it the meanest – and the most efficient budget of all the towns in the area,” Mayor Christopher DePhillips said. “I still don’t think we’re reducing services.” Translated into monthly bills, township committee members said the portion of the budget that covers administration, police, road department, parks, and fire department and ambulance equipment for the volunteer emergency forces, will increase $3 per month, bringing the taxes on the average house from $1,689 for 2011 to $1,726 for the same house in 2012. Local homeowners are cautioned that the total tax rate will also include school and county taxes. The total municipal budget of $17,244,090 is under the state-imposed cap by about $223,000, according to Wyckoff Chief Financial Officer Diana McLeod, because the township received a cap waiver due to expenses involved in the cleanup and repair after the late October snowstorm that knocked out power in the township, in some cases for almost a week. “We’re still significantly under the state cap,” McLeod said last week. The October storm alone cost Wyckoff $122,000, Wyckoff Township Committeeman Kevin Rooney said, and insurance costs increased $81,432. Rooney praised Wyckoff Township Administrator Robert Shannon, who was not at the meeting, CFO McLeod, and the staff. Mayor DePhillips and Rooney said Wyckoff’s department heads also deserved praise for helping to control expenditures. Township Committeeman Brian Scanlan praised Rooney for the constructive thinking that, as Scanlan put it, “made lemons into lemonade.” Both Scanlan and Rooney were involved in the arduous budgeting process. As one example of constructive thinking, Rooney cited the decision to purchase a used truck, as opposed to a new truck, for shade tree activities. “This truck will enable us to do 80 percent and more of the current tree budget,” Rooney said. “It will also enable us to change light bulbs, hang flags, and do other things that are on the schedule.” The Finance Committee, including Rooney and Scanlan, held the line on expenses on 19 budget items, and cut expenses on 16 others. Outside demands made it impossible to decrease the tax bite, but the total budget increase for municipal purposes is less than one percent. DePhillips noted that Wyckoff has the lowest ratio of full-time employees to residents of any town in northwest Bergen County. He and the township committee members praised both the staffers and the numerous volunteers who made this ratio possible. Bruce Crawford, director of the Rutgers Gardens and adjunct professor of landscape at Rutgers University, will present “Tough Plants for Tough Places” to the Wyckoff Area Garden Club on Wednesday, March 21 at 9:30 a.m. Craw- Crawford to address gardeners ford has had his own garden design business for nearly 25 years, and specializes in plantings for year round interest. The meeting will be held at the McFaul’s Environmental Center, 150 Crescent Avenue in Wyckoff.