Voorhees Township approved the 2013 municipal budget on Monday, April 8, which results in a decrease in taxes.
Municipal taxes will decrease by about $48 per year for the average assessed home, for an average total of $1,453 per year.
Deputy Mayor Harry Platt was not present at the meeting and Committeeman Michael Friedman voted against the budget.
Friedman said he agrees with a majority of the items on the budget, but the township could improve handling costs on professional services.
“Where we are not doing as good of a job in controlling cost is in the area of certain professional appointments,” Friedman said, adding he thinks the township is overspending.
The budget includes approximately $18.05 million that needs to be raised by taxation, a 4.97 percent increase from 2012, Voorhees CFO Dean Ciminera said.
He said there are various factors that allow the township to stay under the 2 percent levy cap. Voorhees Township falls $301,009 below the cap.
“It’s always a combination of grant revenues, miscellaneous revenues and controlling expenses that allow us to stay under the 2 percent levy cap,” Ciminera said.
The township is also anticipating a $1.2 million increase in revenues for 2013.
Although the budget increased by $722,775, township manager Larry Spellman said residents are seeing a tax bill decrease because of the most recent township wide reassessment, which resulted in the average assessed home value decreasing by $77,040 to $255,608.
Ciminera said the township performed a reassessment to set the property values as close to the true value as possible.
To view the 2013 budget visit Voorhees Township’s website at www.voorheesnj.com.
