By Barbara A. Preston | June 1, 2023
Montgomery Township Committee approved the 2023 municipal budget of $35.1 million at its May 4 meeting. Property owners will have a small tax rate increase to fund township operations for 2023.
Chief Financial Officer Michael Pitts, in his budget presentation to township committee in April, pointed out that it’s important to keep in mind that the municipal budget only makes up 14 percent of a Montgomery resident’s property taxes—well, 15 percent if the 1 percent open space tax is included.
“We always mention that because we get complaints from residents when their property taxes increase,” he said. “We try to do our best to minimize tax increases, but we are just a small piece of the pie, with 70 percent going to the school district.”
The Montgomery municipal budget (excluding grants) increased by about $1.7 million. The total 2023 budget will be about $35.1 million. The amount to be raised by taxes is about $18.2 million.
It looks like a lot of money, but Pitts pointed out that Montgomery received $5 million in grants for this budget.
The largest grant was more than $4 million for the new Montgomery Public Library.
The reason for the increase is: Paying the annual debt on a 2022 bond; Police contractual salaries and pension costs; and setting up a reserve of $300,000 for uncollected taxes (which is a state mandate.)
“Police are expensive,” Pitts said. “In every municipality, the police are a big chunk of the budget.”
The average assessed home value in Montgomery is now $506,228, an increase of $406 from 2022.
The municipal component of the property tax rate is increasing to $0.454, which is 3.85 percent greater than in 2022.
“Over the past few years, our tax rate has increased slightly. We try to keep it low, especially in 2021 and 2022. We tried to take the burden off the residents during COVID. In 2021, we only increased it 1 percent. And there was a 1.74 percent increase in 2022.”
The owner of a home assessed at $506,228 will pay $85.28 more in taxes in 2023, for a total municipal tax of $2,297.49.
▪ $10.8 million salaries.
▪ $5.5 million annual debt.
▪ $2.7 million health insurance. ▪ $2.2 million pensions
▪ $1.9 million garbage/utilities
▪ $850,000 social security.
Review the entire 2023 Montgomery Township Budget Presentation. ■
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