News
Municipal Tax Rate Level In Rumson
By John Burton
RUMSON - Borough taxpayers will see the municipal portion of their tax bill remain the same for this year.
The borough council adopted the municipal budget on May 26, keeping the tax rate flat.
According to Thomas Rogers, the borough administrator/clerk, the municipal tax rate will remain at approximately 30 cents per assessed $100 of real property.
For three of the last four years, the municipal tax rate has remained consistent, according to Rogers, even though the borough has seen increases in some costs and the loss of some revenue.
According to Rogers the borough had seen a reduction of about $34,000 in state aid; $50,000 less in revenue from construction permits; $100,000 less due to lower tax delinquency rate; and has earned approximately $300,000 less in the town's investments.
Along with that, the borough also saw increases in its contributions to employee pension funds and its bill to the Two Rivers Sewerage Authority go up by $39,412.
"We were just a lot more frugal, bottom-line oriented," Mayor John E. Ekdahl said, explaining this year's flat tax rate.
"In each of our departments we just tried to hold spending at prior year levels," he said.
Officials had decided to somewhat scale back on the road repaving project for this year, trimming that traditionally $1 million annual program, as a means of saving, according to the mayor.
The borough, unlike other communities, has not had to lay off any employees or institute forced work furloughs as a means of saving money, Ekdahl said. When it comes to looking for ways to trim costs in difficult times, "you have to be creative," he said.
