WESTWOOD—The Westwood Borough Council adopted a $21 million 2023–2024 municipal budget at its April 18 meeting that raises an average homeowner’s annual taxes by $95, said borough officials.
On an average assessed home of $496,700, the $95 increase comes from a $92 tax increase in municipal operations and a $3 tax increase in local library funding.
Total 2023-2024 appropriations were $21,033,000, with $4,936,774 coming from general revenues and $16,096,226 to be raised by local taxes, according to Westwood’s budget presentation.
“The Finance Committee considered more utilization of surplus but, after careful thought and deliberation, and the support of our Council colleagues, decided to maintain the version introduced at the March 21 meeting. This conservative approach is consistent with that of the past several years and puts Westwood in an offensive position to face the uncertainty of our fiscal future,” Councilwoman Beth Dell said at the meeting.
Dell said, “We have reviewed a five-year forecast generated by the borough administrator, Durene Ayer. Of note, our Police Benevolent Association (PBA) contract expires in 2025 and our DPW contract expires in 2026…Once again, I thank everyone who assisted with this tremendous effort.”
The budget was approved by a 5-0 vote, with Councilwoman Erin Collins absent.
At the budget’s introduction, Dell said, “As a result of our continued commitment to stabilize our municipal taxes, the 2023 proposed budget includes a tax increase of $95 or $8 per month on an average assessed home of $496,700.”
Dell noted, “The 2023 budget includes a municipal tax rate decrease of $0.025 to 0.671 as compared to the 2022 municipal tax rate of $0.696.”
She said the municipal tax rate has decreased $0.095 since 2018 while the average assessed home has increased to $496,700 from $465,700 in 2022 continuing a steady increase going back to $418,600 in 2018.
The budget increased by $1,014,298, or 5%, over the final 2022 municipal budget, which was $20,018,704. “Much of this increase is a result of inflation and statutory expenditures,” Dell said.
Mayor Raymond Arroyo told Pascack Press that residential values experienced a significant pandemic boost due to high demand for single family homes. “My own home increased in value $40,000 with no new improvements. If we kept the budget flat this year over last, property taxes on the average assessed home would increase by approximately $30.”
Arroyo said approximately $65 of the 2023 tax increase represents additional spending, mostly non-discretionary.
“This budget was assembled during a period of inflation not seen in 40 years [that] peaked last June at 9.1%. The 2023 aggregate budget is up 5% over last year.”
The tax levy is up $395,000 which (including the non-discretionary $14,000 increase of the library portion) is up 3% from last year’s levy, Arroyo said. [Editor’s note: The $14,000 figure is corrected from the print version of this story, which had a typo.]
He said, “By preserving and allocating surplus judiciously we can better cushion the inflationary blow on the taxpayers in the coming years, which the Finance Committee’s projections reveal as challenging.”
He said “future non-discretionary land mines” include:
- Insurance — Estimated increase of approximately $825,000 over the next five years or an average of approximately $165,000/year.
- Police salaries & wages — Estimated increase of approximately $1.165 million over the next five years or an average of approximately $233,000/year.
- Public works salaries & wages — Estimated increase of approximately $325,000 over the next five years or an average of approximately $65,000/year.
- Bergen County Utilities Authority — Estimated increase of approximately $235,000 over the next five years or an average of approximately $47,000/year.
- Police pension assessment — Estimated increase of approximately $1.26 million over the next five years or an average of approximately $252,000/year.
- Sanitation — garbage and trash collection/disposal — Estimated increase of approximately $575,000 over the next five years or an average of approximately $115,000/year.
“We will have much work to do in the coming years but I am confident that our finance team is up to the challenge,” Arroyo said.
According to the budget presentation, the 2023 tax dollar is divided up as 59 cents for schools; 29 cents for municipal operations; 10 cents for the county government, and 2 cents for the public library.
In 2023, the budget line for salaries and wages, including other expenses (pension benefits, health insurance) totals $7,537,583 for salaries and wages and $8,474,817 for other expenses.
In last year’s budget, the line for salaries and wages was $7,068,549 and other expenses totaled $7,883,973.
Budget highlights
Overview of Capital and Debt
- 2023 Capital projects proposal: $2,631,250
- 2023 grants to offset Capital: $694,290
- 2023 debt coming to be retired: $1,614,718
- 2023 estimated increase debt: $662,157
- Debt is increasing slightly in our effort to continue to budget for more capital projects while debt remaining to be retired has decreased, Dell said.
- An approximate $2 million decrease since 2016, including 2023, “while continuing to resurface roads for the safety of residents each year.”
Proposed capital improvements of $2,631,250 include:
- Continued road paving and improvement program of $800,000 plus NJ DOT and Bergen County Community Development grants, which equates to a total $1.24 million in road repair projects.
- “Desperately needed” new sewer jet for the DPW.
- Library building improvements of a roof replacement and waterproofing of $20,000.
“The budget provides for not only the funding of projects and continuation of essential borough services, but is a forward-thinking planning document that continues to provide the foundation for fiscally responsible future budgets,” Dell said.