Page 10 THE VILLADOM TIMES III • May 1, 2013 Allendale Budget to reduce average homeowner’s municipal tax by John Koster Allendale Mayor Vince Barra and the borough council members proved better than their word when the 2013 municipal budget adopted late last week actually lowered municipal-purpose taxes on the average household by about $10 a year. The municipal tax is one component of the overall tax rate. That overall rate is comprised of various elements, including taxes to support the local schools and Bergen County expenses. The total municipal-purpose budget of $12,601,732 was adopted last week after auditor Charles Ferraioli told the council that Allendale was in good financial shape, despite issues that affect the entire region, especially the longstanding decline in real estate values which now may be reversing. He said that, while prices were still down, he had heard that some properties were now receiving multiple bids, which had not happened much recently. “I expect at some point we’re going to see the real estate values going up,” Ferraioli said. He warned, however, to expect more bank foreclosures in the immediate future. “Congratulations! You did a good job,” Ferraioli told Barra. “We were able to increase our surplus,” Barra said, noting that the surplus was $1,194,000 in Allendale, while some towns with much larger populations had less than half of that amount in surplus. “Everybody has really pulled up their bootstraps and got this done.” Barra said he was only one of many Allendale residents who helped bring in a budget that the council was clearly proud of. He cited Allendale’s financial officer, Lisa Mayer, and the members of the council’s Finance Committee, Susan LaMonica and Elizabeth White, as key players, adding that the staff had also been helpful. “We have employees that don’t spend money on our staff,” he said. “You’re setting yourself up to be in good shape,” Ferraioli agreed. “Next year, things are looking good.” Allendale racked up a promised zero increase budget for the third year in a row, as opposed to increases of three to four per cent in recent years previous, with an increase of 11.21 percent in 2006 and 7.43 percent in 2005. Highlights of the 2013 budget including paying off the second half of a tax appeal refund -- the total appeal was $600,000 for a commercial property -- and the hiring of John Yakimik as borough engineer at $145,500, which reduced the appropriation for engineering by $40,000. A pie chart showed that 18 percent of the municipal budget goes toward public safety wages, four percent goes to the library, three percent is for administration wages, another three percent is for administration operations, two percent is for public works, and 13 percent is for the Northwest Bergen County Utilities Authority, with most of the remainder covering mandatory insurance and pensions. Allendale Notebook Electronic waste collection set The students of Northern Highlands High School will host an electronic waste collection on Saturday, May 19 from 8 a.m. to noon. Obsolete or broken electronics and home office equipment, including keyboards, printers, CPU monitors, televisions, phone systems, fax machines, and gaming systems will be collected and disposed of in an environmentally safe way. For more information, visit http://nhrhselectronicwasterecyclingpro.weebly.com. Northern Highlands is located at 298 Hillside Avenue in Allendale. Donations sought for Project Graduation Northern Highlands Regional High School is seeking donations from individuals and the business community to help fund this year’s Project Graduation event. The program provides an alcohol- and drug-free celebration for graduating seniors. Families of the seniors who will attend the event pay a fee to help cover expenses. Checks may be made payable to NH Project Graduation 2013 and mailed to: NH Project Graduation 2013, c/o Chris Madonia, 31 Stone Fence Road, Allendale, NJ 07401. For more information, e-mail mc@collis.net. Group to discuss ‘The Hunger Games’ The May book selection of the Lee Memorial Library’s Reel Reads book discussion and movie screening group is Suzanne Collins’ “The Hunger Games.” The group will discuss the book on May 2. A screening of the movie is set for May 9. Both programs will begin at 7:30 p.m. and are open to adults and to teens who are accompanied by an adult. Registration is requested. Copies of the book are available at the circulation desk. For more information, or to register, call (201) 327-4338. The library is located at 500 West Crescent Avenue. Library offers investment research center The Lee Memorial Library now has Morningstar, Inc. online available to Lee Memorial Library patrons. This investment research center offers an extensive line of products and services for individuals, financial advisors, and institutions. Designed specifically for libraries, Morningstar Investment Research Center is an easy-to-navigate online database with comprehensive data and analysis of over 41,000 investments. To access the program from home, visit allendale.bccls. org or visit the library to use the resource from a public computer. The library is located at 500 West Crescent Avenue. Girl Scouts to hold Daisy Day Allendale Girl Scouts invite girls who will be starting kindergarten and first grade and their mothers to Daisy (continued on page 18)