Emergency Appropriation; No Budget Talk Yet in Rumson

Tuesday night's Rumson Borough Council meeting agenda is a light one, with no scheduled discussion about the municipal budget yet.

There is no unfinished business. However, there is new business that includes an unnamed emergency appropriation by resolution, an accounting firm's appointment, and the appointment of police dispatcher Jonathan M. Ryan as a Class I special officer effective May 1.

While budget talk is not yet slated in the borough, Gov. Chris Christie recently announced that state aid to municipalities would remain flat for 2014 at $660,673.

Rumson officials have anticipated a shift in property values from Hurricane Sandy damage that would affect municipal tax rates borough-wide.

Municipal budgets statwide are not due to be finalized and submitted for months. Some have just begun discussion/workshop phases only.

The governor called the leveling of of aid "preserved funding."

“This preserved funding means no town in Monmouth County will see a decrease in formula municipal aid for the upcoming year," Christie said in a news release. "It also demonstrates that providing stable, predictable levels of municipal aid to support local governments and taxpayers is a core priority of my administration."

The 2012 statewide average municipal portion of the property tax hike was just 1.4 percent, the lowest in 24 years, according to the release. However, the schools taxes are what comprise most of the tax bill, or more than 60 percent, usually.