PAULSBORO — The average homeowner here will see about a $2 tax decrease under the 2012 budget introduced Tuesday night.
The $7.6 million spending plan is about $406,644 less than the 2011 budget. The council is proposing a tax levy of about $5,059,691. This amount includes a $149,711 appropriation for the library.
The 2012 levy is less than 2 percent or $38,000 less than the 2011 levy.
If the council adopts the budget, it would decrease the tax rate less than a penny to $2.033 of assessed valuation.
It would mean the owner of a home assessed at the borough average of $71,703 would pay $2 less in 2012.
Borough Administrator John Salvatore said the borough had “a lot of good luck” this year, and he was able to reduce the budget through attrition, pension decreases and trash budget reductions.
“Because of things going right, we didn’t have to use our levy cap this year,” Salvatore said.
Though staying under the cap is positive, he said, the borough needs to be prepared for an upcoming NuStar tax appeal for 2012
“It can’t be prefunded because they haven’t asked for a specific amount of money,” Salvatore said of the Paradise Road energy company.
When NuStar filed for tax appeals in the past, the administrator said, it cost the borough about $1 million over 10 years in defense fees alone.
“We’re also in a revaluation year,” Salvatore added.
Council members agreed there were some amendments to be made and acknowledged the issues Salvatore brought up.
The public hearing on the budget is scheduled for June 6 at 7 p.m. at borough hall.
Contact Gina Bittner at gbittner@southjerseymedia.com.
