Voorhees homeowners are going to see an increase in their municipal tax rate for 2016, but that increase will be smaller than what was originally reported by the township when Voorhees Committee passed its tentative budget several weeks ago.
At its April 26 meeting, Voorhees Township Committee adopted the 2016 municipal budget with a 2.4-cent increase for resident per every $100 of assessed property value.
Homeowners with the average assessed home valued at $256,188 will now pay about $61 more in municipal taxes per year.
The 2.4-cent increase is a drop from the 2.6-cent municipal tax increase committee originally introduced at its first meeting in April.
The drop comes as committee adopted a special amendment before adopting the budget that lowered the amount to be raised by municipal taxes from $19.2 million to $19.1 million.
According to Voorhees Township administrator Larry Spellman, one initiative funded by the increase in this year’s municipal tax levy is additional police presence in the township’s schools.
“There will now be a police officer in each of our elementary schools all day long,” Spellman said.
Spellman said other items of note in the budget include the installation of turf fields at the township soccer complex and funds for repaving work related to this year’s road program.
Overall, Spellman said the budget was $383,000 under the state-mandated 2 percent tax increase cap.
Taxes were flat in last year’s municipal budget.
In other news:
• Committee passed a resolution allowing the Voorhees Township Police Department to participate in the U.S. Department of Defense’s Law Enforcement Support Office program.
The program allows local law enforcement agencies such as the Voorhees Police Department to acquire or purchase excess property from the U.S. Department of Defense to be used for public safety matters.
According to the Defense Logistics Agency under the U.S Department of Defense, the program has transferred more than $5.4 billion in property to local agencies since the program first began.
More than 8,000 law enforcement agencies take part in the program, and the items that can be transferred from the military to local agencies range from vehicles, rifles and others arms to clothing, office supplies, tools and rescue equipment.
Spellman said the township was happy to purchase or acquire any surplus equipment to save costs.
• Spellman said Camden County would soon start $1.2 million in repaving work on Kresson Road.
According to Spellman, the work is scheduled to start this month and last until August, with work being done from Evesham Road to near Route 73.
Although Spellman said the road will not be closed at any time, at certain points there will only be one lane for traffic.
In conjunction with that work, Spellman said the township will use money gained from a federal “Safe Routes to School” grant to install sidewalks from Rabinowitz Field to School Lane, the road which leads to Kresson Elementary School.
• Committee appointed former Voorhees deputy mayor and committee member Mario DiNatale as director of economic and community development and as an aide to the mayor.
The position was advertised to the public, with Mayor Michael Mignogna, Spellman and the township’s human resources director vetting multiple candidates.
The list was then narrowed to three candidates who then appeared before committee for evaluation.
Two of those candidates then went on to appear before the volunteers of the township’s economic development committee, with the economic committee then giving further recommendations to the township committee.
• The next meeting of the Voorhees Township Committee is scheduled for May 9.
