RIVER VALE —The Township Council has approved a nearly $19 million 2022-2023 budget that raises an average homeowner’s taxes by 3.1%, or approximately $98 annually, said the township’s business administrator and chief financial officer.
Council Vice President Paul Criscuolo was absent for the 4–0 vote, held May 9.
Gennaro Rotella, business administrator, told Pascack Press that the $18,964,584 2022-2023 municipal budget was under the 2% local budget cap. He said last year’s budget raised municipal taxes about $70 yearly on the average homeowner.
The 2022 municipal tax levy — or amount that taxpayers will be assessed via property taxes — is $12,278,220., said Rotella. The average township home is assessed at $592,000, he said.
“The two major areas of increase were the health benefits for current and retired employees and also the step increases for our union employees. We have a very young base after retirements,” Rotella said.
He noted union employees generally get salary increases, or steps, every year based on the negotiated union contracts. Some may be over the 2% municipal caps.
He said union employees include the police department and public works. The police department has 23 officers and the DPW, a shared service with Montvale, has 27 full-time employees, including a secretary.
Rotella said he believed that the Pascack Valley DPW, the shared service with Montvale, has likely saved the township hundreds of thousands of dollars by combining the two departments.
At the May 9 meeting, the council also approved $2.3 million in bonds for municipal upgrades and golf course improvements at the township-owned River Vale Country Club. These included costs for DPW site remediation, DPW land acquisition, ADA doors for the community center, and new doors at the South Fire House.
Also, radios and equipment for the volunteer ambulance corps, fire department and DPW were included. The golf course bonding was for drive range netting, and a storage building. (See “$2.3M for upgrades; hearing set for May 9,” Pascack Press, May 9, 2022.)
Rotella said a recent bid solicitation for pickleball courts came in more than $100,000 over its estimated budget, and will likely be rebid soon.
He said following approval of architectural design and specifications for the estimated $13.3 million new Public Safety Complex, he anticipates going out to bid on the project in June.
Last October, Pascack Press reported the average township homeowner likely will see an approximate $185 annual property tax increase over 30 years due to the $13.3 million bonding necessary for a proposed one-story, 18,000-square-foot new Public Safety Complex planned for 3.25 acres at the corner of Rivervale Road and Prospect Avenue.
The estimated tax impact was calculated by Rotella, who told Pascack Press that the projected annual increase was “conservative” and might wind up being less depending on bond interest rates when bonds are issued.
So far, no bonds have been issued and so no tax impacts have yet hit local homeowners.
However, Rotella said previously that as new townhomes come on local tax rolls, the tax impact of bonding for the new Public Safety Complex should be reduced.
According to Rotella, the $14 million project cost included a $700,000 down payment on the bonds, courtesy of a contribution by Woodmont Properties as part of its developer’s agreement with the town.
Woodmont won approval for a 249-unit townhome development, Fairways At Edgewood, in summer 2019, which is now under construction on nine holes of the Edgewood Country Club.
The public safety building, which will house only the police department and all its related functions, will replace an outdated facility that has been a hot topic for mayors and councils for nearly two decades.