Morris County introduces 2025 budget with no tax-rate increase; public hearing set for March 26

Morris County commissioners on Feb. 26 introduced the county’s proposed 2025 budget, saying it holds the county tax rate flat for a sixth straight year while funding public safety upgrades, parks and higher-education projects.

"There will be no county tax rate increase for a sixth consecutive year," Budget Committee chairwoman Deborah Smith said during the presentation. The board scheduled a public hearing on the proposed budget for March 26, with a later vote to adopt the budget expected after that hearing.

The proposal emphasizes personnel costs and public safety. The county said roughly 58% of the operating budget supports the county workforce, and the budget includes investments for law enforcement evidence storage and processing, dispatch staffing and emergency medical services.

"This year, we will broaden our commitment to law enforcement and public safety," Commissioner Doug Cabana said, describing planned investments in equipment, software and digital-evidence systems to help the prosecutor’s office and local police manage video and other modern evidence sources.

The county reported several specific budget items during the presentation: a capital plan amount close to $36,000,000 after grants; an increase in funding for the Morris County Park System to $9,400,000; a $900,000 ongoing investment recorded last year and a $100,000 earmark to plan the county’s semiquincentennial (250th-anniversary) celebration; and an allocation of $4,500,000 toward construction of a new center for health professionals at County College of Morris. County Chief Financial Officer Betty Bauer and county administrators were cited by commissioners for their roles in preparing the proposal.

Commissioner John Curtis, summarizing human-services elements of the plan, said the budget continues support for emergency shelter, homelessness-prevention programs and added staff to process growing applications for food assistance and caregiving services for aging residents. The proposal also continues shared-service efforts with municipalities and funds a high-resolution aerial mapping service to support local planning and public works.

The presentation enumerated prior preservation investments and ongoing preservation trust fund activities but did not provide a single consolidated total in the presentation slides shown. Commissioners emphasized maintaining a strong fund balance and noted the budget aims to limit the local impact of state-mandated cost increases.

The county will present the budget for introduction at the board’s next meeting and hold the public hearing March 26; a final adoption vote will follow the public process and any required hearings.

The presentation and subsequent commissioners’ reports included additional planning and capital-timing information: construction bid advertisements for a courthouse project and related support services were described as scheduled to be advertised and opened in the coming weeks, with dates noted during the meeting.