Paramus Taxpayers See Small Increase Due to Tax Appeals

Paramus' governing body approved the 2013 municipal budget Tuesday night which has a zero increase in spending however brings on a small increase for taxpayers caused by numerous commercial tax appeals. 

The average taxpayer, those whose home is valued at about $500,000, will see a $30 increase in the municipal portion of their tax bill.

The borough was hit with $110 million loss in ratables this year due to tax appeals. That decrease in value is what amounted to the small tax increase, according to the borough's auditor Frank Demario. 

Borough Attorney Paul Kaufmann said the borough is settling all the appeals, which is about 200, all mostly small businesses. He said payments have been pushed out into the middle of next year and the council has the option to bond for it so it has as little impact on the taxpayer as possible. 

Demario said the impact of the tax appeals could have been a lot worse. He stressed that the strategies the borough has implemented in managing the appeals has cut the damage by more than half.  

As per the budget, Mayor Richard LaBarbiera stressed the importance of the $9 million in revenue the borough has managed to build up over the past 2 to 3 years from as little as $42,000. Having a healthy surplus is one of the things recognized by Moody's Investors which raised the borough's credit score which will amount to hundreds of thousands in savings thanks to better rates, according to the mayor. 

The borough had committed to a plan to not use surplus in the budget according to Demario. The mayor said by doing so there was "no smoke and mirrors" of giving the community a false sense of security. 

Included in the budget is $500,000 allocated towards improvements at the borough's golf course which is being funded from the operational budget, said the mayor.