Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Municipal Budget topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Morris Township adopts 2025 municipal budget; committee approves multiple ordinances and motions in consent votes
Summary
The Township Committee adopted the 2025 municipal budget and approved a set of ordinances for introduction; the meeting included roll‑call votes on budget adoption, ordinance 10‑25 (cap bank), and introductions for a package of capital and utility ordinances.
The Morris Township Committee adopted its 2025 municipal budget on April 16 after a presentation by Township Administrator Tim Quinn, Chief Financial Officer Sean Ferguson and auditor Valerie Dolan.
"You are putting forth a very good budget. It's a sound, fiscally sound budget," auditor Valerie Dolan said during the presentation and signaled the township's accounts were within state caps and suitable for self‑examination this year.
Quinn and CFO Sean Ferguson walked the committee through revenues, appropriations and capital plans. The adopted budget totals roughly $42.9 million in total budgeted expenditures, with municipal taxes of about $25.2 million, miscellaneous revenues of about $8.3 million and an anticipated use of fund balance. The township said the municipal portion of the average homeowner's tax will rise by less than 1 percent — approximately $25.47 annually on a $600,000 home — while overall property tax allocations shifted due to changes in equalized valuations.
After the public hearing and discussion, the Township Committee carried the adoption by roll call. The clerk read the tax-and-budget resolution into the record and the committee voted unanimously to adopt the budget and tax resolution.
The meeting also included multiple formal votes. The committee adopted Ordinance 10‑25 to authorize use of a cap bank under state budget law and declared the ordinance approved. The meeting further introduced a package of ordinances for public hearing and later adoption, including ordinances numbered 11‑25 through 19‑25 (capital improvement bonds, sewer projects, parking security cameras and open‑space appropriations). Each introduction carried a separate roll‑call vote; the introductions were approved by the committee and scheduled for public hearing and final consideration at the May 21 meeting.
Other formal motions approved in the regular session included the claims list for payment totaling $12,767,469.35 and a set of consent calendar resolutions; both were carried by roll call.
Votes at a glance
- Ordinance 10‑25 (exceed municipal budget appropriation limits and establish cap bank under N.J.S.A. 40A:4‑45.14): adopted (roll call: unanimous). Mayor Donna J. Gruglia declared the ordinance approved and directed the clerk to publish notice.
- 2025 Municipal Budget and Tax Resolution: adopted (roll call: unanimous). The resolution set municipal appropriations at $25,205,583.85 for municipal purposes and included a separate open space trust levy.
- Ordinances 11‑25 through 19‑25 (introduction for public hearing May 21, 2025): introduced by roll call; topics include non‑union salary ranges (11‑25), towing/storage fee increases (12‑25), capital bond ordinance for road projects (13‑25), swimming pool debt (14‑25), sewer capital improvements (15‑25), general capital improvements (16‑25), sewer capital fund appropriations (17‑25), Convent Train Station security camera upgrades (18‑25), and open space trust fund appropriations (19‑25). Each introduction was approved by roll call. Final hearings set for May 21, 2025.
- Claims and vouchers (bills): approved (roll call: unanimous). Total: $12,767,469.35.
No member of the committee recorded a dissenting vote during the roll calls shown in the transcript.
The committee scheduled public hearings and final votes for the introduced ordinances at its May 21 meeting.
