Franklin Lakes May 1, 2013 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • Page 7 Borough council adopts 2013 municipal budget by Frank J. McMahon The Franklin Lakes Borough Council has adopted the 2013 municipal budget. The vote followed a presentation about the $16,530,012 budget, which represents an increase of $64,850 over last year’s adopted budget, or an increase of 0.39 percent. The amount to be raised by taxation to support this budget is$11,018,999, which is a 1.9 percent increase over last year, but under the maximum allowable state tax levy cap of two percent. That budget increase will raise the borough’s tax rate by a half cent to 26.9 cents per $100 of assessed value. The owner of a home with the borough’s average assessed value of $1,030,000 will pay $2,771 (an additional $51.50) for municipal purposes. The total tax increase, however, includes the tax rates for the local and regional school districts, Bergen County, the Bergen County Open Space tax, and the library. Franklin Lakes Borough Administrator Gregory Hart pointed out that the objectives that have guided the borough’s budget process from initial submission to adoption included the following non-negotiable objectives: stabilizing the borough’s surplus, reducing debt over time, and minimizing tax increases in compliance with applicable caps. According to Hart, 14.9 percent of a property owner’s total tax is for municipal purposes, while 39.3 percent is for the local school tax, 28.2 percent is for the regional high school tax, 2.3 percent is for the library tax, and the balance is for the county tax. He pointed out that the borough’s current tax rate is the second lowest in Bergen County. Some notable line items in the 2013 budget are $5.29 million for salaries and wages, $1.66 million for debt service, $1.48 million for health insurance, $1.45 million for the municipal library, $890,000 for pension contributions, and $730,000 for garbage and recycling collection and disposal. Key increases in the 2013 budget as compared to the 2012 budget include capital improvements of $387,700, which represents part of the borough’s continuing effort to fund recurring capital purchases in the operating budget instead of incurring more debt; employee salaries of $158,764 mostly due to collective bargaining agreements; and $255,546 in debt service attributable to the additional pay down of principal. Hart advised that all other appropriations decreased by nearly $600,000. In addition, the proposed budget includes $296,561 from the library as a return of excess funds, which are being used to decrease taxes. According to Hart, the proposed budget meets the borough’s goals in several areas. He said the budget stabilizes the use of surplus funds by reducing the use of surplus in the budget by $515,000. The borough projects that it will be able to maintain a surplus level of over $2 million, which Hart considers appropriate and prudent. (continued on page 23)