The Courier - July 3, 2008

M'town budget adopted despite objections

By MELISSA L. GAFFNEY
Staff Writer

    It was to the tune of a partisan, 3-2 vote that the Middletown Township Committee adopted its 2008 municipal budget during a workshop session on Monday, June 30.
    After about two months of rolling the vote, the committee's Republican majority ushered in the $62.3 million operating budget for 2008.
    The 2008 municipal budget calls for a tax levy of about $37.8 million, an increase from 2007's levy of nearly $35 million. The approximate $2.8 million difference represents an 8.1percent tax levy increase from last year.
    As formally adopted, the 2008 budget requires a tax rate of about 75.8 cents per $100 of assessed property value, as compared to 2007's rate of approximately 70.7 cents per $100 of assessed property value.
    The 5.1-cent municipal increase represents an additional $100 or so on a resident's tax bill, given a residence is valued at the average $200,000. A resident would see the municipal line on his or her tax bill increase from about $1,414 in 2007 to approximately $1,516 in 2008.
    The difference represents a 7.2-percent increase in the tax rate.
    The overall budget illustrates an increase of about 4.1 percent from 2007's operating budget of nearly $59.8 million.
    The Township Committee adopted a resolution during its June 2 public session that amended the 2008 municipal budget.
    According to the resolution, funds were both increased and decreased equally so as not to affect the tax rate.
    The resolution appropriates $60,000 rather than the original $33,000 for "other expenses" regarding the collection of taxes.
    It also allocates about $46,054for last year's bill to T&M Associates, which was originally for the amount of zero.
    Other adjusted funds included the reduction of $40,000 in group insurance for employees, as well as a decrease of about $33,054 in salaries and wages within planning and development.

Committee reaction

    During the committee's June 30 session, Mayor Gerard Scharfenberger said this year's budget was the most difficult budget he has had to deal with.
    The mayor went on to recognize himself, along with Deputy Mayor Pamela Brightbill and Committeeman Thomas Wilkens, for working since October of 2007 to be involved in every step of the process.
    Scharfenberger did not mention the efforts of committeemen Patrick Short or Sean Byrnes except to dismiss the list of line items and additional observations the two put together.
    The mayor characterized the observations as the "infamous 39." Scharfenberger dismissed the recommendations as fiscally irresponsible.
    Short said he found the remarks offensive.
    The mayor had previously stated how he wished there had been more participation from other committee members in the process. "We (the Republicans) were left to do this by ourselves," Scharfenberger said.
    Brightbill asked if Short discounted the receipt of a six-page response to his and Byrnes' recommendations. The deputy mayor also said she had inquired about some of the same things.
    The mayor said this was a duplication of efforts.
    Byrnes said the beauty of the recommendations was that they were in writing. Byrnes also said he would like to see a budget committee next year with at least one member from each political party, in what he called "bipartisan contribution."
    Scharfenberger said this was not necessarily a bad idea, but he would like everybody to get involved.
    During the committee's comment session, Brightbill said the committee should not kid itself and that she knew Short and Byrnes were going to vote against the 2008 budget.
    When asked by Short if she could then predict the future, the deputy mayor replied, "No, not all the time."