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Byram Council previews 2024 budget, flags insurance and waste costs as main drivers of levy increase
Summary
Township Manager Joseph Sabatini presented a preliminary 2024 municipal budget projecting a 1.18% tax levy increase ($106,749) and highlighted major cost drivers—group health insurance, garbage/recycling, and workers' compensation—while scheduling a budget workshop for Jan. 16.
Township Manager Joseph Sabatini told the Byram Township Council on Nov. 8 that staff has posted a preliminary view of the 2024 municipal budget and will seek further direction at a planned budget workshop on Jan. 16. The draft, Mr. Sabatini said, is incomplete and several assessments remain outstanding.
The presentation identified salary and wages for all departments at $3,967,750, an increase of $83,700 (2.15%) over 2023. Operational expenses total $1,633,323, up $42,529, producing an overall municipal operating increase of $126,229 (2.31%). The draft assumes property tax revenues of $9,183,638, a 1.18% levy increase equal to $106,749.
Mr. Sabatini highlighted three primary cost drivers for the increase: a projected $117,600 rise in group health insurance costs driven by state health benefit rate changes and census shifts; an estimated $40,000 increase for garbage and recycling (including higher tipping fees); and anticipated workers' compensation/general liability assessment increases (the memo estimates about $19,883). He said 2024 insurance assessments and pension figures remain pending and may change the final numbers.
The three‑year capital improvement program remains under review; the proposed 2024 appropriation to the Capital Improvement Fund is $740,273. The draft anticipates using an estimated $1,785,000 of fund balance (a decline of $195,000 from 2023), which Mr. Sabatini said will require assessment for sustainability once the 2023 unaudited fund balance is finalized.
Mr. Sabatini also announced that the township received an NJDOT grant of $142,524 to repave Manor Drive and said the tax assessor is considering a 2024 reassessment that could affect 2025 budgets.
The council did not adopt the budget at the meeting. The manager and staff will return with updated figures after outstanding insurance and pension assessments are received; the council is scheduled to hold a formal budget workshop on Jan. 16, 2024.
