Cinnaminson Approves Budget, Holds The Line On Taxes

CINNAMINSON, NJ — Cinnaminson taxes will hold steady in the upcoming year after Township Committee gave final approval to the proposed $16,419,053.84 budget with no tax increase Monday night.

The tax rate of 0.616 remains unchanged with a total amount of $10,287,126.01 to be collected through taxation, according to a copy of the proposed budget provided to Patch.

The amount to be raised for municipal purposes would be $9,935,990.83, with $6,483,063.01 anticipated in revenues other than taxation.

Township Manager Eric Schubiger said he expects the tax rate to remain stable next year, as well, even as the township maintains services and moves forward with its capital improvement plan. Read more here: Cinnaminson Committee Approves $1.4M In Capital Improvements

He said the township will continue to seek development opportunities, grant funding and shared services opportunities.

“This is an outstanding budget based on the pandemic,” Schubiger said. “It would’ve been easy to slow down, and the pandemic challenges will continue, but everyone bought into our concept of not settling for the status quo.”

Schubiger pointed to continuing progress throughout the township over the last year, including announcements that Popeye’s, Tim Horton’s, and Chick-fil-A are coming to Cinnaminson, and construction is increasingly rapidly on the Lidl’s store coming to Route 130.

Schubiger also pointed to progress that has been made on stormwater management, information technology, park upgrades and affordable housing, among a range of topics.

“It’s achievable only because the vision of the status quo is unacceptable,” Schubiger said. “We’ve weathered a storm that came out of nowhere and taken real action.”

This year's proposed budget lists an anticipated surplus of $2,302,500, an increase of $242,500. Miscellaneous revenues are listed at $3,730,563.01. The fund balance stands at $25 million.

“One of our goals was that the fund balance needed to be higher because we don’t know what’s going to happen,” Schubiger said.

The township anticipates $6,483,063.01 in revenues (a $161,065.39 increase), including $1,920,745 in state aid, as well as $300,000 in construction code fees, $45,000 in revenue from shared services, $213,818,.01 in public and private revenues, $903,000 in revenue from "other special items" and $450,000 in delinquent taxes.

On the appropriations side, Salaries and wages are expected to increase by $138,373, from $5,838,502 to $5,976,875. "Other expenses" are also expected to increase, by $95,102, from $5,959,295 to $6,054,397.

Statutory and deferred charges are expected to go up by $156,942, from $1,333,714 to $1,490,656. Debt service would decrease by $13,650, from $1,281,418 to $1,267,768. There is $100,000 set aside for capital improvements.

The township has about $100,000 in reserve for tax appeals, but there were only one or two appeals this year, Township Solicitor Stuart Platt said.

Township Committee previously approved a proposed ordinance to exceed the municipal budget appropriation limits and establish a cap bank.

By approving the proposal, Township Committee allowed the township to increase its budget by 3.5 percent over last year's final appropriations and bank the excess as an appropriation.

The additional proposed increase amounts to 2.5 percent, or $328,287.78, according to Schubiger.

In all, the 3.5 percent increase amounts to $459,602.89. Read more here: Cinnaminson Budget Expected To Be Introduced In April