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Mount Laurel resident presses council over 15.73% tax-rate spike; town cites health-insurance, trash and police costs
Summary
At the Sept. 30 Mount Laurel Township Council meeting a resident said the Aug. tax bill showed a 15.73% local tax-rate increase. The town manager said the rise exceeded the 2% cap because of cap waivers tied to health-insurance and trash cost increases and a sizable police post-retirement benefit bill.
A Mount Laurel resident on Sept. 30 told the township council the local tax rate on the Aug. tax bill had jumped 15.73% and asked how that could happen under the states 2% cap on municipal tax increases.
"When we got the tax bill on August 20 ... the local tax rate went up 15.73%," said Joan Buer, who gave her name and address during the public-comment period and thanked municipal workers for their service before raising the budget question.
The town manager responded that the increase exceeded the 2% cap because the township received cap waivers tied to spikes in specific line items. "It went up over the 2% because we received a cap waiver for health insurance," the town manager said, adding that health-insurance rates rose about 8% and that trash hauler costs also rose and required a cap waiver.
The manager also said police post-retirement costs contributed materially to the increase. Officials described an identifiable post-retirement payment tied to police retirements and estimated that component at about $650,000. "The increase on the ... postretirement police benefits was $650,000," the manager said, and explained that retirements and their timing can be unpredictable even though the costs are budgeted once they occur.
Buer asked whether growth-related hiring also played a role; staff said the tax increase reflected a combination of higher health-insurance costs, trash contract increases and pension/postretirement obligations, and in some cases additional staffing tied to township growth.
She also asked about the process used to fill the recent council vacancy. The town manager described the municipal-vacancy law: the political party of the departing member submits three names to the remaining council members, and the council chooses among those nominees within the statutory window.
The council did not take additional budget action at the meeting; discussion during public comment was explanatory. The meeting later moved to a closed executive session and then adjourned.
