90% FEMA Reimbursement Slightly Decreases Impact of Middletown’s Budget

This story includes previous reporting by Christina Johnson.

Middletown taxpayers will see a smaller increase in their municipal tax levy and tax rate than what was initially proposed in May.

The Township Committee voted unanimously to approve the $66,418,877 municipal budget for 2013 at a special action meeting Monday. According to Township Administrator Anthony Mercantante, the 2.2 percent increase proposed for the tax levy in May was lowered to a 1.89 percent increase from the 2012 municipal budget. The township was able to lessen the increase of the tax levy because the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) increased their municipal reimbursement for Sandy-related damage from 75% to 90%, Mercantante explained.

The increase in the tax levy can be largely attributed to the unexpected cost of Sandy on Oct. 29, Township CFO Nicholas Trasente said in May.

The tax rate for municipal purposes will rise .013, from .482 to .495. For the owner of a house assessed at $375,500, the township's 2013 average, the municipal portion of the property tax bill will rise by $48.81 to $1858.72. The budget introduced in May called for a tax rate of .496 per $100 of a property’s assessed valuation, which would have resulted in an increase of $52.57 to $1,862.48.

Middletown is anticipating additional costs from Sandy as the year goes on, but the sale of three properties on Unity Road has the township financially prepared for that, Mercantante explained.

“We’re anticipating we may have to deal with some property issues as time goes by and more properties become abandoned,” he said.

According to Mercantante, the township expected about $150,000 from the sale of the Unity Road property. However, the properties sold for about $425,000, leaving about $275,000 for the township to set aside for future Sandy costs.

“We’re hoping that we don't need it, but we’re anticipating it,” he said. “We’d need an emergency appropriation otherwise.”

Township committee members spoke proudly of the budget at Monday’s special action meeting, applauding the township for mitigating the financial impact of a storm that devastated the Bayshore.

“Middletown got hit quite hard during Sandy and we were able to move forward with an awful amount of damage, unlike a lot of towns still out there,” Mayor Gerard Scharfenberger said.

“I am also very please to be voting yes to this lean budget, especially after we had a year like we had. This is a fantastic testament to the leadership in Middletown,” Deputy Mayor Stephanie Murray said.