No Municipal Tax Hike in 2014 for Chester Twp. Residents

Chester Township residents won’t have to worry about a hike in municipal taxes as the committee approved a budget that has no tax rate increase over the 2013 spending plan.

The entire budget comes in at $12,661,248.23, of which $8,501,129 makes up the tax levy, or portion needed from local taxes. With that levy comes a tax rate of .0467, or 46.7 cents paid on every $100 of assessed home value.

In order to get the budget back to flat, the Township Committee adopted a resolution reducing the tax levy by some $37,000 at an April meeting, according to newjerseyhills.com.

The average home in Chester Township has a price tag of $666,676, giving the average homeowner a municipal tax bill of $3,113.  

According to the budget list, which can be seen here, township police – including former and current officers – have accumulated to a total worth of $156,363 in “gross days of accumulated absence.” Funds reserved for those payouts by the end of 2013 equaled $133,833. The 2014 budget sets aside $41,000 to close the gap. 

Salary and wages for the Mayor and Council rose $3,000 year-over-year, from $28,000 to $31,000 in 2014. The employee group health costs for municipal employees made a drastic jump as well, from $1,232,576 last year to $1,362,375 in 2014.

The budget also showed the expenditure for capital improvements increased from $430,000 to $458,000 this year.

For more information on Chester Township’s budget, go here.