March 7, 2012 THE VILLADOM TIMES IV • Page 7 Mahwah Flat state aid will not impact township budget by Frank J. McMahon The Township of Mahwah will receive the same amount of state aid in 2012 as it received in 2011. As a result, the budget Mayor William Laforet recently submitted to the council will not be negatively impacted. According to the Division of Local Government Services of the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, Mahwah will again receive $4,913,416. This amount is based on the state aid figures released after Governor Chris Christie announced his 2012 budget. All the other Bergen County towns will also receive the same state aid they received last year. At the end of January, Laforet submitted the township’s 2012 budget to the township council. That spending plan reflected a decrease in the total municipal budget amount with an increase in the municipal tax levy that is under the state-mandated two percent cap. The municipal tax levy of $19,838,884 is $215,318 under the maximum statutory two percent tax levy cap and the mayor’s $34,559,614 total budget is $167,712 lower than the $34,727,326 budget for 2011. Since Laforet’s presentation, the council has been holding budget meetings with the heads of the various township departments that may lead to increases or decreases in the individual budgets for those departments. However, if this budget were approved by the council as submitted by the mayor, the proposed municipal tax rate would be 34.8 cents. That rate would be six tenths of a cent above the 2011 tax rate of 34.2 cents, which did not include the library tax rate of 3.9 cents. The state requires that the library tax be calculated separately. The tax rate hike represents a 1.75 percent increase, which Laforet said is the lowest increase since the revaluation year of 2001. The property tax for the municipal portion of the township’s total tax bill for the owner of a home with the township’s average assessed value of $470,000 would increase by $28 under the mayor’s budget, and would result in a property tax of $1,636 per year for the municipal portion of the total property tax bill. The final property tax bill will also include taxes for the Bergen County, the county’s and township’s open space funds, the school district, and the library. A Blue Ribbon Panel of residents assembled by the mayor reviewed the budget prior to its submission, and Laforet credited that group with providing valuable input. According to Mahwah Township Administrator Brian Campion, the lack of any increase in the mandated contribution to the township’s employee pension plan, and a significant amount of money that was in the township’s self-insured health plan at the end of the year due to lower expenses, were the primary factors that permitted a smaller increase in the township’s tax rate this year. Campion explained that the township had originally expected a large increase in pension costs for 2012, but as a result of changes in the pension regulations, that bill was reduced by about $500,000. He also advised that the budget calls for no reduction in the township’s workforce and provides for the same level of services that are expected by residents. The state now requires municipalities to adopt their budgets by April 20, or at the next regularly scheduled meeting at which formal action may be taken.