Budget Discussion In Moorestown Begins Wednesday Night

MOORESTOWN, NJ — The discussion surrounding this year’s budget in Moorestown will begin Wednesday night.

Moorestown Council will hold its first budget workshop at 6 p.m. Wednesday night, township officials announced on Monday. It will be held virtually.

A previous announcement stated Wednesday night’s meeting would be held as part of the search for a new township manager, but that has since been changed.

The proposed budget went out to individual members of council last week, according to Township Manager Tom Merchel. He said he would be meeting with the four new members of council individually to go over the basics of doing a budget, and the budget workshops would be for Township Council to go over the proposed budget as a whole.

Moorestown Mayor Nicole Gillespie said she would like to see the first budget workshop give the big picture for everything that is being proposed, and then the township could drill down to the basics. Merchel and other members of Township Council agreed.

There was no tax increase in last year’s $26,480,000 budget. Read more here: Moorestown Holds Line On Taxes Amid Coronavirus Pandemic

The average property tax bill in Moorestown was $11,902, according to information provided to Patch by the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs (DCA). Read more here: 2021 Moorestown Property Taxes: See Full Breakdown

The meeting will be held virtually due to the coronavirus pandemic. Members of the public can participate in the meeting just the same as if at an in-person meeting. The mayor will open the floor for public participation in accordance with normal protocol.

To send questions or comments prior to the meeting (no later than 4 p.m. the day of the meeting), email councilmeetingcomments@moorestown.nj.us. Type "council meeting comments" and the meeting date in the subject line.

To join by teleconference, dial 1 201-523-5900 and then enter Conference ID: 764 204 011 followed by the # sign or 1-833-450-2679 (toll free).

To join using the MSTeams client, visit https://www.moorestown.nj.us/. On the homepage, under “Upcoming Events,” select the meeting you wish to attend; click “Join the MSTeams Meeting” under “Link;” or visit https://www.moorestown.nj.us/. On the top of the homepage, click on "Live Meetings" and click on the "Township Council MS Teams Meeting Link."

The meeting will also be broadcast via live stream on the Township's website. The livestream is not interactive, and you will not be able to participate in the meeting in this format.

The live stream may be accessed by visiting https://www.moorestown.nj.us/ and clicking on “Live Meetings” in the upper right hand corner of the homepage. This will bring you to the “Agendas, Minutes, Meetings & Recordings” page. Once there, click on the “Township Council Meeting” link of the meeting you wish to watch