Mayor Manzo breaks down some budget points
As I said in my last message, we introduced our 2018 Budget on March 19, and we will potentially adopt it on April 16. I want to provide a little more detail here since the last couple years have proven that some of the facts and data about our fiscal policy can be misconstrued. I’m not talking about about the numbers, because that part is easy. The local budget that we control calls for a 1 cent increase from 42.6 cents to 43.6 cents per $100 of assessed value. For the average-priced home of $341,000, that’s a total municipal tax cost of $1,487 (or less than $124/month). Simple, correct? Thinking of it in those terms makes it easy to understand when you compare the $124 cost to your other normal monthly household expenses. So the confusion isn’t about the numbers; it’s understanding “what” we spend the money on, right?
Well, for that $124, you get our police department, trash/recyclable removal (including yard waste pick-up), our park system and athletic fields, our public works department to maintain everything, our numerous recreation department- sponsored programs, our court system, our planning/zoning/construction departments and the multiple township-sponsored events like Harrison Township Day and Lights on Main. That average $124 monthly payment covers the salaries, medical benefits and pension contributions for the nearly 50 fulltime employees that provide these services for our community.
But that’s not all. Included in the $124 is the full payment on any debt we have accrued as the community exploded in population since the 1990’s. Harrison’s population grew from about 3,000 to 13,000 in less than 20 years and that required some major infrastructure upgrades to accommodate all of us. More employees and yes, improved facilities like new public works and police buildings, expansion of our parks and recreational fields and additional equipment and machinery to keep up with the service requirements. Some have pointed to our debt balance and implied an unwarranted spending policy, which is not the case. Imagine South Harrison exploding from it’s current population (about 3,000) to over 13,000 in the next 20 years. Do you think they would require some upgrades? We’ve accomplished it smoothly and in a very responsible manner.
The law requires us to permanently finance all the money we borrow, just like you do with your home mortgage and car payments. So any notion that we are somehow kicking that can down the road is false. Think about it: your $124 per month pays for everything in town, including all debt to be paid off within 20 years. Not sure about you, but when I compare that to all my other monthly household bills, I feel I’m getting my monies worth. The fiscal state of Harrison Township has never been better and the future is even more secure based on the controlled commercial development and PILOT revenue already slated in the coming years. If you have any questions, please reach out and we’ll provide the answers.
