Just like the other 565 municipalities in New Jersey, Tabernacle Mayor Kim Brown says the biggest concern for residents in 2012 will be, you guessed it, taxes.
She said the township committee would try to keep the local tax rate steady this year, especially since the county and school taxes are out of her hands.
“We are trying to continue to provide the services,” she said. “The people need to be able to afford to live in their homes.”
Brown said the township has not and probably will not lay off anyone. One cost saving measure implemented in Tabernacle: sharing a tax assessor with Shamong.
Tabernacle intends to open a new emergency-services building in late January or early February.
“It’s a long-awaited project, so we’re excited that it’s opening up,” Brown said, noting the township is applying for grants to help offset taxes for different projects in the town.
The emergency-services building will house rescue, fire truck, a pumper and an emergency-management coordinator. The hope is it will reduce response times.
“This way, the distance traveled is at least half of what it would have been,” Brown said.
She said Tabernacle is now eyeing the road programs.
Tabernacle has managed to maintain its tax rate for last three years and is looking to do the same this year, she said.
“The thing I like about small, local government is you basically know most of the people in town,” Brown said. “So when you’re making decisions that affect the people in town, you can actually put a face to the people you’re making a decision for.
“You can picture those people in the town and who you’re affecting. So, therefore, you know to make your decisions based on the fact that these people can’t afford any major impacts tax-wise.”
“We have an excellent school system in Tabernacle, which is part of the Lenape Regional High School District,” she said. “We have excellent school districts that back up the community and a lot of people move here for the school districts because they get a good quality education.”
And, Brown remains optimistic about the coming year in Tabernacle.
“I’m always hopeful — I always look at the glass as half full, never half empty, because if you look at things with a positive attitude you tend to make positive changes,” she said. “If you look at things with a negative attitude things tend to go wrong — so if you always look positive, positive things happen — that’s my philosophy.”
