Category Archives: City Council

City Council, taxes

City Council amends budget

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City Council on Monday night amended the city budget by resolution (AR-87-13), held the required public hearing on the spending plan, but will approve the budget as amended at its meeting next month.

Chief Financial Officer Frank Ruggiero explained that an amendment is necessary if:
– There is an increase or decrease of 10 percent in a budget appropriation;
– A new appropriation is added that is equal to more than 1 percent of the budget;
– The tax levy is increased or decreased by 5 percent.

In this case, it was the first item, an increase or decrease of 10 percent in a budget appropriation. Specifically, $20,000 was reduced in the Department of Law for salaries and wages, related to the public defender and , along with changes to some six line-items in the budget, which reduced the tax levy by about $32,000, from $34.47 million to $34.44 million. The tax levy is about 2.95 percent, or $985,000, more than last year’s tax levy. In all, the budget stands at $50.77 million.

The change will mean an average tax increase of about $113, versus the originally proposed $116, for the average assessed home in Rahway ($133,000). The municipal budget comprises about 40 percent of the overall property tax bill.

The City Council also unanimously adopted a budget for the Special Improvement District (SID) in the amount of $130,000, which funds the Rahway Arts District.

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City Council

City budget up for vote, public hearing Monday

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City Council is scheduled to adopt a city budget for 2013 on Monday night that anticipates a municipal tax increase of about $116 for the average assessed home ($133,000). A public hearing is scheduled during the regular meeting, which begins at 7 p.m.

The $50.7-million spending plan includes a property tax levy of $34.47 million, an increase of about 3 percent over the previous year. City Council also is scheduled to adopt a separate, $130,000 budget for the Special Improvement District (SID), which funds the Rahway Arts District.

The municipal budget was introduced last month. For a breakdown of some specifics on the tax increase, check out this post from last month after the municipal budget was introduced.

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City Council, tax appeals, taxes

City budget estimates average $116 tax increase

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A municipal budget presented Monday night forecasts an average $116 increase in the city’s portion of the tax bill.

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City Council

Council OKs water rate, taxi fare hikes

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The City Council tonight approved three separate ordinances to raise water rates and taxi fares, as well as a revised downtown redevelopment plan.

The governing body last month introduced the ordinance (O-11-13) to increase water rates as well as the ordinance (O-12-13) to increase taxi fares. Here’s a Google Map that details the taxi zone boundaries (and has more than 1,800 views).

Virtually all three ordinances were approved unanimously, 9-0, with the exception of the redevelopment plan, which had one abstention (Council President Samson Steinman). There was no comment from council members on the three measures:
O-6-13, revised redevelopment plan
O-11-13, water rates
O-12-13, taxi fares

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City Council

City Redevelopment Plan to be revised

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The City Council is set to approve a revised redevelopment plan that will consolidate more than three dozen amendments to the existing, 15-year-old redevelopment plan.

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City Council

Water rate increase coming

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The City Council last week introduced a new ordinance (O-11-13) that will raise water rates by about $20, or about 15 percent, effective April 1. The ordinance will come up for a public hearing and final approval at the March 11 regular meeting.

After the water utility ran a deficit of $170,000 in 2010, water rates were raised last year by about 5 percent last year. The City Council at the time considered a recommendation by the city administrator of increasing rates 5 percent for three consecutive years, but the governing body instead sought to address it on an annual basis.

The ordinance would increase the minimum monthly charge from $11.41 to $13.12, an increase of $1.71, nearly 15 percent. The ordinance stipulates increases of 2 percent annually through 2016. The increase would generate about $487,000 for the remaining eight months of 2013, or $13.68 to the minimum user.

In a Feb. 7 memo to Mayor Rick Proctor, Chief Financial Officer Frank Ruggiero explained that the additional revenue will reduce or eliminate the need for the city budget to supplement water utility operations, enable the utility to again become self-liquidating, and fund upcoming capital improvements.

“This amendment would be in the best interest of the city to have the Water Utility Fund be self-liquidating and not rely on the current fund to supplement the operations,” Ruggiero wrote in his memo to the mayor.

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City Council

City Council introduces taxi fare hike

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The City Council last week introduced the first taxi fare hike in seven years and will vote on the measure (O-12-13) after a public hearing at its March 11 regular meeting.

The three taxi zones in Rahway currently are $4, $5 and $6, and the increase would hike fares $1 in each zone, making them $5, $6 and $7; essentially an overall increase of about 20 percent. Boundaries of the three zones are laid out in this Google Map.

Owners of the two Rahway taxi companies requested a fare hike in a December letter to the mayor and City Council. The last increase in taxi fares was November 2005.

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City Council

Artist housing PILOT approved

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The City Council passed a series of measures on Monday night aimed at bringing affordable housing targeted for people in the arts and entertainment industry to the Arts District, including a financial agreement that will provide a Payment In Lieu Of Taxes (PILOT).

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