Metuchen proposes a 10.7¢ tax increase Average homeowner could pay $168.78 more per year BY KATHY CHANG Staff Writer The Metuchen Borough Council introduced a tentative budget last week that would raise taxes by $168.78 for the average homeowner. "This year, in particular, was tough with the new state levy caps, which was another wrinkle we had to deal with, but we came just under the 4 percent levy cap [by $4,200]. We cut it close," said William Boerth, borough administrator. Boerth presented the proposed $15,253,310.22 budget, which is up $876,179.68 from last year, at the Borough Council meeting on March 3. The estimated municipal tax rate will rise 10.70 cents per $100 of assessed valuation, up 4.3 cents last year. The owner of an average home is assessed at $189,635. The amount to be raised by taxation is $8,920,370.67, which is up $861,650.58 from last year. The council voted 5-1 in favor of introducing the budget, with Councilman William Waldron voting against the introduction. "I'm concerned about the double-digit [10.70 percent] rate of inflation," said Waldron, who added that he did not want to discredit the borough administration's work on the budget. Mayor Thomas Vahalla understood the councilman's concern. Still, he said 90 percent of the budget was due to contractual demands and other demands including utilities, which are up $60,000 this year. Increases included hikes from the Middlesex County Utilities Authority, where sewer charges are up $44,215; library costs, which are up $26,938; PERS [employee] pension costs, which are up $76,861; PFRS [police] pension costs, which are up $181,708, and debt service costs, which are up $137,044. "We were left with 10 percent that we had to deal with. If we add anything more into the budget, we would have to find the money to fund [the addition] or if we cut somewhere, we would have to look to cut services," said the mayor. The total amount of nondiscretionary appropriations total $527,766 of the total budget. "The police pension costs is in the last year of increasing and the employees' pension costs are in the fourth year of a five year increase," said Councilman Timothy Dacey, who said the increases in costs date back to Gov. Christine Whitman's administration. "We had to play catch-up, and once we do catch up, either the level of costs stay level or they increase." The borough hopes to receive the same $100,000 state aid it received last year. "A few years ago, we received $400,000 from the state; then we received $200,000; last year we received $100,000; and we hope that we receive $100,000 this year," said Dacey. "We can expect to get $0 state aid next year [because of what is going on in the state]." Borough Council members said they look forward to a good discussion and debate about the budget. The budget hearing is scheduled for May 5. For those who are interested, budget documents are posted on the borough's Web site at www.metuchennj.org.