The budget goes before the township council April 19.
LAWRENCE -- The township recently announced a proposed budget of $43.6 million for 2016 and touted it's the third consecutive year municipal taxes will not increase.
The $43,620,450 budget plan includes a tax rate of 52.7 cents per $100 of assessed property value. A residential homeowner with the township's average property assessment of $282,191 will pay $1,487 in property taxes, a statement from Lawrence Township Manager Richard Krawczun said.
The amount proposed to be raised by taxes in 2016 is $23.8 million - a decrease of $88,800 from 2015's budget.
"The recommended budget is an example of a thoughtful and careful use of taxpayers' money," Lawrence Mayor David Maffei said in a statement. "I am proud to say it was done in an excellent way."
"Now the Township Council will carefully review the information and hear from individual department directors prior to final budget adoption," Maffei said.
The proposed budget will go up for a vote before the township council next week, on April 19.
Krawczun said in the statement the budget has a decrease in salaries of $188,000 due to "the replacement of retiring employees with new hires at lower salaries."
Other details of the proposed budget:
- The 2015 year-end surplus balance was $9.3 million verses the 2014 year-end balance of $8.4 million - an increase of $930,000, the highest year-end surplus balance since 2008.
- Lawrence will receive $3.9 million in state aid - the same as in 2015, the town said.
- Outstanding debt continues to decline. The 2015 closing balance was $21.9 million verses $30.8 million in 2010.
- The town plans no job reductions in 2016 nor any decrease in the number of authorized police officer positions.
"The effort to craft the 2016 budget recommendations did not abandon the quest to provide the appropriate level of discretionary and nondiscretionary levels of services versus Lawrence Township taxpayers' ability to pay," Krawczun said in a statement. "Continually being examined were opportunities for both operational and economic efficiencies."
Lindsay Rittenhouse may be reached at lrittenhouse@njadvancemedia.com. Find NJ.com on Facebook.