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Colts Neck committee reviews 2026 budget draft, seeks small cuts to meet caps
Summary
At a Feb. 18 workshop, Colts Neck officials reviewed operating and capital requests across police, public works, fire and EMS. Finance staff said the draft stays within levy caps but needs modest additional cuts and choices on capital timing to finalize the tax rate.
The Colts Neck Township Committee on Feb. 18 reviewed an initial 2026 budget draft that officials said remains within the state levy cap but will require modest further cuts and policy choices before final adoption. Finance director John Antonies told the committee the current draft uses about $2.75 million in surplus and that the municipal portion of the tax rate would be roughly 0.254 under present assumptions.
The committee convened the workshop to examine department line‑items and capital requests, not to vote. Antonies said the township is about $28,000 under the appropriation cap after the latest reductions but identified additional small savings as necessary to finalize the numbers. He also reviewed the capital‑improvement fund balance (about $900,000 on the books) and noted the committee can choose pay‑as‑you‑go funding, bond issuances or keep projects for later years.
Budget officials said they factored slower surplus inflows compared with last year and are reserving funds for likely snow operations; the draft uses less surplus than 2025 and assumes $2–2.75 million of capital‑improvement funding this year. That mix of pay‑as‑you‑go and bonding, Antonies said, will determine which projects can move forward immediately and which must be deferred. Committee members urged caution about being “too lean,” noting that deferred road work and emergency equipment failures carry operational risk.
The workshop highlighted a cluster of capital items that will affect final choices: police firearms and ballistic vest replacement driven by a state legal development, recreation and park projects proposed by the Colts Sports Foundation, and fire department capital for SCBA replacement, battery‑powered extrication equipment and a compact quick‑response vehicle. Officials said some capital work—particularly vehicle purchases—faces long vendor lead times and may be accelerated using pay‑as‑you‑go funding or an MCIA lease purchase if the committee chooses.
Next procedural steps: staff will continue line‑by‑line review, aim to identify the additional small cuts needed to meet final appropriation caps, and return the refined draft for formal introduction on Feb. 25, 2026, with a potential adoption timeline in March if the committee proceeds.
