Ridgewood May 15, 2013 THE VILLADOM TIMES II • Page 7 Municipal budget to have flat tax for most village residents by John Koster The Ridgewood municipal budget as introduced last week includes a flat tax increase for most village residents, although some may have to pay a small increase and others may pay less than last year for municipal purposes. Deputy Mayor Albert Pucciarelli explained that the council was able to hold the tax increase to zero for those homeowners whose property assessments received the average 13 percent reduction due to the town-wide revaluation. Those homeowners whose assessed property values were reduced by less than 13 percent will pay a small added increment, while those whose assessments were much lower will pay less for borough government, police, fire, and roads than they did last year. “People whose taxes did not go down 13 percent will see an increase,” Puciarelli said, noting that he falls in this group. The municipal budget is just one component of the overall property tax rate. The overall figure includes taxes such as those that support the public school district and Bergen County expenses. The municipal budget provides for $33,040,376 to be raised by taxes, with a total budget of $35,420,990. The reserve for uncollected taxes is $1,624,422.12, with revenues outside the property tax base funding at $12,303,274.71. The council voted 4-1 to introduce the budget, and the hearing was set for June 12. Councilman Thomas Riche voted “no” on the introduction, as he said he would at previous meetings, because he did not think the projected surplus will be adequate to cover such catastrophic events as Hurricane Sandy or the Oct. 29, 2011, both of which knocked out power to many Ridgewood households for almost week. Ridgewood Chief Financial Officer Steven Sanzari said the village had received $455,000 from New Jersey Green Acres and Bergen County Open Space, and anticipates $210,000 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The budget covers the requested early morning openings for Graydon Pool and returned $51,000 for the budget of the Ridgewood Public Library, bringing the support level back to the 2009 figure. The council also adopted the non-union salary ordinance and the management salary ordinance. Councilman Riche voted “no” on the management ordinance because he believes in principle that Village Manager Ken Gabbert should not be excluded from the possible 1.5 percent meritbased increase offered to other management employees for exemplary performance. He joined the council in approving the non-union employee salary ordinance, which allows raises of up to 1.5 percent for employees who show particular merit. Chuck promoted Ridgewood Police Sergeant John Chuck was honored by the Ridgewood Village Council and Police Chief John Ward as he took the oath of his new rank at the May 8 public meeting of the Ridgewood Village Council. His family also attended the ceremony.