As your Mayor, I am pleased to announce the 2017 Proposed Municipal Budget. The proposed 2017 budget calls for appropriations of $40,493,417. This represents a 0.1% decrease or $38,879 from the adopted 2016 budget.
The 2017 municipal budget calls for no increase in the municipal portion of the tax rate. An increase in the Township’s assessed value of 0.4%, strong revenue collections, and new shared services agreements have placed the Township in a stronger financial position. These items along with increased employee benefit contributions and a slight reduction in pension expenses have allowed for no proposed increase in the municipal portion of the tax rate. The Township realized greater than expected revenues in Uniform Construction Code permits. These two items contributed to an increase in Township’s general fund balance of $759,916.
As a result, the Business Administrator recommended the Township leverage this increase in fund balance by increasing the capital improvement fund appropriation by $450,000. This recommendation will have no impact on the proposed 2017 municipal tax rate. In addition, the increase in this appropriation has several benefits including:
- Allowing the Township to begin to fund its road resurfacing program substantially in cash eliminating the need to borrow money for this on-going expense; and
- Reducing the Township’s overall debt service and insulating against the anticipated increase in interest rates; and
- Providing flexibility in future budgeting by creating an appropriation that could be reduced in the event of extraordinary or unforeseen expenses.
A memorandum prepared by the Township’s Business Administrator concerning the 2017 Municipal Budget can be found here. The 2017 Municipal Budget Data including the budget request details, salaries and wages, and capital budget can be found on the Township’s Government Transparency webpage located here.
I welcome your comments on the 2017 Proposed Municipal Budget. You can contact me at rockadm@rockawaytownship.org.
Mayor Michael G. Dachisen
