No Vote Expected On Freehold Township Budget

The Freehold Township Committee on Tuesday was scheduled to hold a public hearing on its $38 million budget for 2013, but expected to hold off on a vote until state officials certified the spending plan.

State officials are about two weeks behind in certifying municipal budgets throughout the state, officials said, and the governing body could not ratify its spending plan without the blessing of the state.

The $38,334,781 spending plan is up $882,669 or 2.36 percent from last year’s $37,452,112 budget. The spending plan is supported by a $19,072,808 tax levy, up $1,125,128 or 6.27 percent from last year’s $17,947,680 levy.

The 2013 tax rate is 34.8 cents for each $100 of property value, that’s up from  year’s rate of 32.7 cents. However, the township just underwent a county-mandated reassessment, which normally changes the total valuation of property in town, rendering last year’s rate essentially moot.

On a home assessed at $347,031 – the township average – the municipal portion of the property tax bill will be about $1,207.67, an increase of about $72.87 over last year’s municipal tax bill of $1,134.79.

The municipal tax is one part of the overall property tax bill, which includes county, school and fire district taxes, among others.