Brick to Hold Public Hearing, Vote On $98M Budget, Tax Increase

The Brick Township municipal complex. (Photo: Daniel Nee)

The Brick Township council will hold a public hearing Tuesday night before voting on the township’s proposed $98 million operating budget for 2015.

The hearing is mandatory under state law; the council introduced the $98,917,050 spending plan last night, which will be supported by a tax levy of $69,861,325, an increase of $1,949,786 over last year. The remainder of the budget is funded through state and federal aid, grants and other revenue sources.

For a Brick resident with a home valued at $248,900 – the median value in the township – the municipal portion of the annual property tax bill would rise by $47.29. That amount represents the proposed increase in the municipal portion of residents’ tax bills – the Board of Education and county have introduced their own budgets for 2015.

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The budget is set to increase by just 0.65 percent in 2015, though the tax levy will increase by 1.9 cents per $100 of assessed real property, primarily due to the lingering effects of Superstorm Sandy on the township’s tax base, Mayor John Ducey has said.

In Brick, Ducey said the tax base is still down $362,254,766 from pre-Sandy levels. That alone equates to a loss of $1,940,580 in tax revenue – nearly the entire increase this year – which must be paid by other residents. Additionally, Ducey said, the township must pay $3,726,150 in emergency note interest and principal payments related to storm cleanup. Altogether, Sandy-related expenses and the loss of tax base add up to $5,766,730 in the budget, equivalent to 5.62 cents on the tax rate.

The hearing and vote will take place at the council’s regularly scheduled meeting, which begins at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the township municipal complex on Chambers Bridge Road.