Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Hopatcong introduces 2025 budget as auditor flags fund-balance decline, lists 15 fixes
Summary
The council introduced a 2025 municipal budget calling for an 8.5% tax-levy increase; auditor Ray Cerinelli highlighted a roughly $1.1 million decline in general fund balance in 2024 and issued 15 recommendations to tighten controls and accounting procedures.
Hopatcong officials introduced the 2025 municipal budget on April 17; the package complies with state levy and appropriation caps but calls for an 8.5% increase in the municipal tax levy.
Ray Cerinelli, the borough’s auditor, presented the budget framework and a draft audit. Cerinelli said the levy increase would translate to about $180 a year for a homeowner with a $380,000 assessed property and described the drivers of the increase: a sharp reduction in available fund balance, inflationary pressures (including sizable increases in employee health insurance and pension costs), and a shift toward a longer-term capital…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
