Tax rate to rise 11 cents under proposed budget
Informal budget meeting slated for 11 a.m. today
BY PATRICIA A. MILLER
Staff Writer

Edison homeowners would bear the primary burden for an increase in the municipal tax rate if the Township Council approves the proposed budget.

The total budget amount for fiscal year 2006 is $100,602,776, an increase of $3,415,955 from last year, according to the budget document.

The municipal purposes tax rate would rise 11 cents for each $100 of assessed valuation, from 73.4 cents to 84.4 cents, according to the proposed budget.

The budget will be discussed at a workshop meeting slated for 11 a.m. this morning.

The timing of the meeting angered Joseph Petrucelli, a resident and certified public accountant (CPA) who has been sitting in on budget discussions with Township Administrator Jonathan Capp.

“People are going to get hit with a 15 percent increase,” he said. “They should be given the opportunity to listen to what the department heads are going to say. It’s ridiculous.”

Petrucelli and Kevin Duffy, who is also a CPA, hammered officials last year in an effort to obtain more budget information.

“I extrapolated information from the budget to make it simpler for residents,” Petrucelli said.

Four cents of the 11-cent municipal tax rate increase was already included in the estimated third-quarter tax bills, and the temporary operating budget, said John Covello, Mayor George A. Spadoro’s chief of staff.

The additional 7-cent hike is calculated in the proposed budget, he said.

The amount to be raised by taxation will rise 15.1 percent, from $54,485,923 to $62,765,673, according to the budget.