PARK RIDGE—Homeowners are likely to face an approximate $122 municipal tax increase in 2023 based on the $17.3 million preliminary budget introduced at the April 11 Borough Council meeting.
However, the council president told residents at that meeting that “the council is still discussing possible changes to the budget which may reduce the tax levy from what is stated in the introduced budget.”
Council President William Fenwick was acting mayor at the meeting as Mayor Keith Misciagna was absent, along with councilman Matthew Capilli.
The total introduced 2023 budget was $17,346,902, and $12,250,201 is the local tax levy paid by property taxes.
Chief Financial Officer Consuelo Carpenter told Pascack Press that a public hearing and budget presentation will occur at the May 9 council meeting.
She said the biggest areas of increases were in health insurance, municipal employee pensions, and increased interest rates on outstanding notes and bonds.
Last year’s budget came with an average $133.00 property tax increase. The average home in Park Ridge is assessed at $474,000, said finance officials.
Fenwick told Pascack Press, “As can be seen from the introduced budget, we were able to keep the overall increases in appropriations limited to $50,400.00. We saw major increases in police department salary compensation that were a contractual obligation as well as major increases in insurance premiums. In our capital improvement program we are replacing a fire truck that is over 20 years old and near the end of its usable life.”
He continued, “Also in the capital improvement program, we have included the paving of streets that see heavy use near our schools, such as West Park Avenue and Wield Court, as well as other streets in town that are in need of repair.”
Fenwick noted, “The end of the lawsuit over the former Sony headquarters allowed us to significantly reduce our legal budget. We also saw major increases in non-tax revenue, with our hotel tax and court fines bouncing back from reduced revenues that occurred in prior years during COVID.”
“Also of note, we passed a resolution (April 11) to monetize the parking spaces that the Borough is obligated to lease from the James under the agreement the mayor and then sitting council had made when the development was built. Previously, these parking spaces had gone completely unused and the town was losing $75,000 year after year to the James in parking lease payments for spaces that the town was not even using,” said Fenwick.