FANWOOD — The borough council on Monday unveiled the 2024 municipal budget, which will be funded in part by a $199 average increase in the municipal portion of property taxes.
At the council’s agenda meeting, Borough Administrator Jesse Moehlman said a trio of expenditures — insurance, debt service and pension contributions — resulted in what he described as a “massive hit” to the borough’s $11.36 million operating budget. Insurance expenses this year will total $1.641 million, a 12.4 percent increase from 2023; debt service will increase by slightly more than $200,000, to $1.948 million; and pension contributions will rise by 6.2 percent, to $874,378.
All but about $3.04 million — just over a quarter of total expenditures — is earmarked for mandated spending on such items as municipal salaries and benefits ($4.576 million), debt service, pensions and the library ($519,486).
Besides nearly $7.3 million in property- tax payments, this year’s budget will be financed by $2.7 million in municipal receipts, $83,000 in grants, about $847,000 in state aid, about $324,000 in PILOT payments from several large redevelopment projects on South Avenue and 2nd Street and $600,000 in borough surplus. In all, the municipal portion of the average property-tax bill will be $2,798 — about $233 per month, Mr. Moehlman estimated — versus last year’s $2,582. The $199 average increase is significantly larger than last year’s average $41 increase.
Mayor Colleen Mahr called it a “sobering” budget. The public hearing will be held on Monday, June 3.
Mr. Moehlman spoke about some of the budget savings the borough has realized, including switching healthinsurance plans, which resulted in an increase of 4.53 percent versus nearly 8 percent under the previous statesponsored plan. He also pointed to a number of shared-service arrangements that Fanwood has with Westfield and Garwood.
Public safety is the biggest piece of the budget pie, comprising 21 percent of overall expenditures, while debt service will amount to about 17 percent.Administrative functions will account for 9 percent; public works, 7 percent; recycling and utilities, 5 percent; the library, 5 percent; and general insurance, 3 percent.
Among the plans for this year are renovations to the Forest Road Park building so it can be used as an emergency shelter; two new vehicles for the public works department; road resurfacings; improvements at the two parks; and refurbishing of the South Avenue train-station parking lot.
It was noted that just under 20 percent of the total property-tax bill will be earmarked for borough expenses. The county portion will account for about 16.5 percent of the total levy while the board of education’s budget accounts for about 62 percent.
This year’s capital budget will be introduced at a later date, Mr. Moehlman said, but he did briefly outline some of the proposed purchases and expenses included in the estimated $411,000 bond ordinance, which will be smaller than last year. He said he is looking to keep capital expenses “lean” in an effort to keep the borough’s debt service under control.
