The Montgomery Township Committee has unanimously voted “yes” to adopt a $32.6 million municipal budget that includes a small tax increase on township property owners.
Township Committee members officially adopted the municipal budget on May 1. The budget was first introduced on April 3 and funds municipal operations for the 2025 year.
The projected tax rate for property owners is 48 cents per $100 of assessed valuation, which is a 1.3-cent increase from 2024.
An owner of an average assessed home at $507,400 will pay $2,435 in municipal taxes.
Municipal taxes are one item on a property owner’s total tax bill, which also includes Montgomery Township School District taxes and Somerset County taxes.
The amount an individual pays in taxes is determined by the assessed value of his or her home and/or property, and the tax rate that is set by each taxing entity.
Commercial and residential property owners support the budget through taxes, which is projected to be $19.4 million, a $580,000 increase from that amount raised in 2024.
Main cost drivers in the budget are an increase in debt expenses in the amount of $242,000; police salary increases in the amount of $200,000; increases in health benefits in the amount of $133,000; and increase in police pensions for a total of $125,000.
Montgomery’s budget is increasing $755,000 that is excluding grants.
In a budget presentation on April 3, Michael Pitts, township chief financial officer (CFO), said, “Out of that $755,000 you’ll see our major cost drivers – debt expense – that has to do with a note that went out last year and the interest is due this year. Police salaries just like any municipality that has a police department it is usually the largest driver when it comes to your salaries. Police pensions that is a number we get from the state, we have no say in that number.”
The budget’s projected appropriations include $11.2 million on salaries and wages, $5.9 million on annual debt service and capital, $2.8 million towards insurance, $2.4 million on pensions, $1.6 million towards utilities, $1.5 million to reserve for uncollected taxes, $855,000 on social security, $825,000 on vehicle maintenance, $546,000 on engineering, $375,000 on legal services, and $205,000 on shared service agreements, according to budget documents and the budget presentation.
Department appropriations include $5.5 million on the police department, $1.85 million on the Department of Public Works and streets/roads, $717,500 on the Recreation Department, and $695,500 on the Health Department.
The Recreation Department will have a significant decrease in their budget by $235,000 and that is the result of the township moving a program from the budget to the Recreation Trust Fund.
During the public hearing, a resident expressed disappointment with the Montgomery Emergency Service (EMS) receiving only a $10,000 increase in the budget. The township is appropriating $80,000 in 2025 municipal budget for the first aid and rescue squad.
“The EMS that is something we did take into consideration,” Pitts said, noting that they are not going to be able to fix it all in one year as much as we would love to. “Not only did we increase their operating budget by $10,000. We give them an extra $10,000 for capital.
“But there were a lot of expenses that drove this budget that unfortunately took away from stuff we wanted to do. But I think we the Finance Committee, the Committee itself value EMS. We felt that $20,000 in total ($10,000 operating, $10,000 capital) is a good start to where we want to get to.”
Montgomery will use $5.3 million from the surplus as revenue in the budget, which is same amount used in the previous 2024 municipal budget.
Other revenues include $1.39 million in state aid, $1.1 million from interest on investments, $900,000 from uniform construction code fees, $820,000 – receipts from delinquent taxes, $690,000 from fees and permits, $258,000 from leases (Cable TV franchise fee and lease income – cell phone tower arrangements), $250,000 from interest on taxes, $168,000 from shared service agreements and $110,000 from court fines and costs.
