WOODCLIFF LAKE—The average borough homeowner will see an approximately $250 increase in municipal taxes over last year as a result of the nearly $14 million budget the Borough Council approved, 5-0, on Aug. 2.
Council President Angela Hayes was absent.
Mayor Carlos Rendo said the late budget approval was mainly due to local officials taking the time to deal with the unexpected impact from a large regional school tax increase and the timing for receipt of Covid relief funds from the federal American Rescue Plan, which will be distributed to municipalities half this year and half in 2022.
The 2021 budget totals $13,956,593, which is up from last year’s $12,941,700, an increase of $1,014.893, or about 8%.
The budget was described by the mayor and council members as a “reasonable” budget given all the revenue shortfalls from 2020 and continuing increases for salaries, benefits and insurance. Other increasing expenses cited included legal costs, engineering, utilities, facility costs, and celebratory events.
Mayor Carlos Rendo thanked budget committee members Steven Falanga and Craig Marson, along with Borough Administrator Tom Padilla and Chief Financial Officer Jonathan DeJoseph for their hard work and much time spent crafting a bare-bones budget.
“Steve and Craig worked very hard to limit the blow on the taxpayers,” said Rendo.
He said the borough has had a “very difficult two years” and said during 2020’s pandemic that municipal revenues “were dwindling to nothing” with substantial drops in hotel taxes, building fees, and parks and recreation fees.
He said the unexpected major hit from regional school taxes — up $545 per average household — and litigation costs from settling the Valley Chabad religious discrimination lawsuit and the BMW tax litigation, has cost the town taxpayers even more.
Rendo said as the regional school tax will be spread out over two fiscal years, the average total tax increase per homeowner will be closer to $600 with the regional and local school tax added into this year’s tax bill.
(See “School tax fight: Mayor urges residents to weigh in on funding,” Pascack Press, May 24, 2021.)
A budget presentation showed that only 24 cents of every local tax dollar goes to Borough Hall expenses, about 65 cents goes for regional and local schools, and 11 cents goes to Bergen County.
From 2020 to 2021, the average residential home value increased from $766,402 to $767,963.
The 2021 municipal budget shows 35% devoted to salaries and wages and 34% to expenses such as benefits and insurance. Those categories account for $4,995,548 and $4,789,625, respectively.
The two next largest categories include debt service paydowns at $1,167,256 and statutory expenses/pensions at $1,112,750.
Other budget categories include a 6% reserve for uncollected taxes and 6% for sewer charges.
Falanga noted that “some significant litigation” including the Valley Chabad settlement is factored into this budget and Marson said while he didn’t agree with all the numbers, “the key thing is to bring it down to an increase that was reasonable.”
The borough settled its five-year litigation battle over alleged religious discrimination with Valley Chabad and the U.S. Justice Department last September by approviing a settlement paying $1.5 million to Chabad and agreeing to allow Chabad to construct a nearly 20,000-square-foot synagogue.
Marson called the budget “a fair representation of what we’re trying to do on behalf of the borough” and said holding the line on expenses could make next year’s budget crafting “a significantly smoother process.”
Councilwoman Jackie Gadaleta wondered why costs for employee group health went up so much under insurance.
Marson explained that employee health costs have averaged “double-digit increases” over the last five years and Padilla noted that the borough has also reaped a “small savings” via its dental program.
Padilla said because the borough is part of New Jersey’s state health benefits plan, the plan costs increase, “but not as much as if we’re on our own.”
Residents Veronica Appelle and Alex Cuto praised the council members for their work on the budget.