Budget balancing act
Burlington County Times Editorial Board
Posted: Wednesday, July 10, 2013 5:00 am
The Burlington County Board of Freeholders’ $184 million 2013 budget, which includes a reduction in the dedicated open space tax from 4 cents to 1.5 cents, will be voted on tonight. The spending plan also includes a cut in the library levy of $459,938.
The library cuts are mostly due to attrition, and in a meeting with the Burlington County Times Editorial Board on Tuesday, Freeholder Director Joseph Donnelly said he is confident the $48 million surplus in open space funds will allow all programs and acquisitions to continue unchanged.
We’ll take him at his word.
The freeholders have demonstrated a willingness to make the tough decisions necessary to keep the county tax rate in check in the past, and this budget season is no different.
The still-sluggish economy isn’t making it any easier.
The county operating budget tax levy for 2013 is $153 million, or $5 million more than in 2012, because while spending has decreased by $15 million, revenue is down.
In order to prevent passing that tax levy hike onto taxpayers, officials offset it with cuts to the library and open space levies.
We know. It’s an election year for Donnelly, but residents reading between the headlines will discover that this budget is also a fair and sensible one. Every municipality has a different county tax burden. The freeholder board has managed to keep costs at the county level flat, but you still may end up paying more in county taxes.
Given the one-time budget boost from the closure of Buttonwood Hospital and additional revenue from an agreement with Gloucester County to accept some of its prisoners, we suspect the board will have to make more difficult financial decisions as 2014 approaches.
We believe the 2013 cuts are a necessary, and temporary, evil.
And given the numbers — county ratables are down by nearly $2 billion and tax appeals are up more than 70 percent — the county has done a decent job of balancing the needs of residents against cost-cutting measures in this budget.