Council introduces preliminary 2013 budget
Taxes may increase for Asbury homeowners
After months of waiting for a go ahead from the state, city council members introduced a preliminary 2013 budget Wednesday night which could result in a tax increase for Asbury residents.
City Manager Terry Reidy said the preliminary budget has a total deficit of approximately $1.2 million dollars. In order to help close the deficit, the budget includes a tax increase of 39 cents per $100 of assessed valuation, he said.
The proposed increase would raise the taxes by $333 on a home assessed at $84,000, which is the average assessment for a residential property in the city, according to Richard J. Gartz, acting Chief Financial Officer.
A public hearing on the preliminary budget is scheduled for July 24, after which the Council may vote to approve the budget.
Reidy explained the biggest losses from the 2012 to 2013 budget included $300,000 worth of fees that were not realized in the engineering department, the discontinuation of the Bamboozle Festival and a loss in ratables.
“Loss in ratables was the biggest hit that we took going from 2012 to 2013,” said Reidy. “We took about a half a million hit.”
Reidy said 12 cents of the 39 cent tax increase is “directly attributed” to the loss of ratables.
“We took a hit in tax appeals last year, so when your ratable base goes down and your costs stay the same or increase the tax levy has to be adjusted, or you have to find other revenue, or you have to cut costs,” Reidy said.
Layoffs are not favored by Reidy in order to make up for the loss of revenue, he said.
The state had originally told all shore communities affected by Hurricane Sandy not to introduce a 2013 budget until after applications for Community Disaster Loan [CDL] funds from FEMA were processed, said Reidy. Asbury is not eligible for CDL loans, but can now apply for disaster funding through a special Community Development Block Grant now that a preliminary budget has been introduced, he said.
The general appropriations for preliminary budget total just over $40.7 million dollars.
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CORRECTION: This post has been changed to state that the proposed budget increase is 39 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. The original post incorrectly stated per $1000 of assessed valuation.
