No Tax Increase In Cherry Hill's Proposed Budget Amid Pandemic
CHERRY HILL, NJ — As businesses struggle to reopen, unemployment remains high and people across the country are uncertain where their next paycheck will come from, Cherry Hill Council introduced a proposed budget that would see taxes hold steady for the next year.
Cherry Hill Council unanimously approved a proposed budget on introduction that carries no tax increase Tuesday night. No numbers were included in the presentation, but officials said the budget would be posted on the township website by Oct. 16.
Requests for physical copies can be made by calling the township clerk’s office at 856-488-7892.
Township Business Administrator Erin Patterson Gill said the tax rate will remain the same because the township will be collecting a greater amount of taxes through the township’s ratable base.
Council also approved a resolution that proposes using an average tax collection rate for this year’s budget. This allowed the township to keep taxes down by averaging the previous three years of collection to determine this year’s rate.
Officials said this was done because the township didn’t collect enough tax revenue during the fourth quarter of 2019, and taxes would’ve had to increase if not for this measure.
The public hearing and final vote on the budget will take place Oct. 27.
“It’s a difficult time for many families, but I hope this news brings some comfort,” Cherry Hill Mayor Susan Shin Angulo said. “This certainly has been a challenging year. The world quickly changed. It was turned upside down, and the township adapted.”
She said the budget invests in parks, playgrounds, historical sites, the library, technology and services to keep the township safe and infrastructure upgrades.
Municipalities in New Jersey typically introduce their budgets in the later winter or early spring, and cast their final vote in the summer. In April, Gov. Phil Murphy extended the fiscal year to Sept. 30 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Murphy held the state's first budget address in February, before the pandemic broke out and the state was shut down in March. He held his second budget address on Aug. 25, at which time he called for more taxes and revenues to help offset the impact the pandemic is having statewide, local officials did all they could to keep taxes from increasing.
On Tuesday, Murphy signed a budget that includes rebates to homeowners, revised school funding, money designed to help businesses reopen and a millionaire's tax. Murphy has said that the tax hike is necessary because economic shutdowns have depleted the state's revenues amid the coronavirus crisis. Read more here: Gov. Phil Murphy Signs Revised NJ Budget: Here’s What It Will Do
Cherry Hill Council also unanimously approved the proposed ordinance to exceed the municipal budget appropriation limits and establish a cap bank Monday night. It is a proposal introduced by municipalities across the state at budget time.
It is done so municipalities can adopt a budget that contains an appropriation increase that exceeds the 2.5 percent appropriation cap (but only up to a maximum of 3.5 percent); or "bank" for future use, the extent to which their actual budget appropriation increases are less than 3.5 percent.
Cherry Hill is not exceeding the municipal budget limit this year. The public hearing and final vote on this proposal is set for Oct. 13.
This article originally appeared on the Cherry Hill Patch
