Politics & Government

Proposed Cranford Budget Could Mean $39 Tax Hike

Local officials say they hope to reduce the municipal tax impact before the final budget is adopted.

Cranford residents will be asked to pay about $39 more per year in taxes based on the proposed budget that was introduced by the Township Committee during a public meeting Tuesday night.

The increase represents the additional amount that residents living in a home with an average assessed value of $181,600 will pay under the proposed budget.

The $34.2 million municipal spending plan represents a 1.69 percent increase over last year, according to Commissioner Andis Kalnins, who serves as the chairman of the Finance Committee. Kalnins said the committee "put a lot of work" into the budget, and will continue to tweak the spending plan between now and the end of April.

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"This was a fairly low increase in spending," the commissioner said, adding that the majority of the individual budgets presented by the various departments in the township did not have any increases, beyond the normal contractual salary increases. "Most of the department budgets stayed at zero."

Some of the more significant increases in this year's budget include what Kalnins called an "unavoidable" 4.4 percent increase in health insurance costs as well as a 5.7 percent increase in utilities and a 13 percent hike in debt services. Officials say plans to offset some of the debt service will involve refinancing some of the municipality's debts.

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"If you took debt service out of the budget, that one item, you would actually have a tax decrease," said Joseph M. Hartnett, who was appointed to serve as the township administrator during the public meeting.

According to Kalnins, officials will spend the next few weeks ironing out additinal details of the spending plan, including the capital budget, which includes larger expenditures. The committee has already set funds aside, so the addition of capital expenses should not have an impact on the proposed tax increase.

One such expense includes the purchase of computer equipment for the township. Approximately $69,500 was appropriated in an ordinance approved by the Township Committee Tuesday. The funds will be used "to make a down payment, to authorize the issuance of bonds" to finance the anticipated appropriation, according to the ordinance.

In addition, Kalnins pointed out that the Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders has approved a budget that will represent a 6.3 percent increase for county taxpayers. School taxes in Cranford will also increase by about 2 percent, which is one of the lowest increases the district has seen in several years.

Kalnins and Mayor Thomas Hannen Jr. said they're hoping to make some additional cuts before the official public hearing on the budget takes place on April 23.

"I would like to see some additional savings," Kalnins said.

A public hearing on the budget will take place in town hall on April 23. The budget will be available at the Cranford Public Library. residents can also view the budget online, at the township's website.

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