West Deptford Finalizes $33 Million Budget for 2012

Things looked ugly for West Deptford’s township budget at the start of 2012.

With a huge chunk of the ratable base gone when Sunoco’s assessment at Eagle Point fell by half, and a jump in debt service of about $3.3 million, if the township had done nothing, there would’ve been a 24¢ per $100 of assessed value increase in taxes this year.

But thanks to what Mayor Ray Chintall characterized as a bipartisan effort, at final adoption of an amended version of the $33 million budget Thursday night, the tax rate increase had dropped down to 4.5¢ per $100 of assessed value, meaning a homeowner assessed at the township average of $207,966 will pay about $90 extra in taxes to the township this year.

While Chintall said it wasn’t a perfect situation, getting things down to what amounts to a 5.4 percent increase in taxes, versus an average tax increase of around 10 percent between 2005 and 2010 was a small victory.

“We were able to cut wasteful spending and begin to properly manage your money,” he told the audience at the municipal building. “I think we’re going in the right direction.”

That meant holding salaries close to flat and reducing operating expenses—down to $14.977 million this year from $15.538 million last year—in an attempt to offset a $3.45 million jump in debt service that fueled a roughly 10 percent increase in the total budget from last year.

Along with the amendments, which included $1 million less for tax appeals legal fees, thanks to the , as well as prior subcommittee work, the tax hike was cut down to less than a third of what the budget was , when the average taxpayer could’ve expected an increase of $321.

Some, if not the majority of the actual increase in the final version of the budget has already been taken care of with the most recent estimated tax bills, township administrator Eric Campo said.

“All told…you’re paying the bulk of that increase in the third quarter,” he said. “You will see a substantial decrease in the 4th quarter.”

But the budget didn’t pass without criticism from the Democratic minority. Committeewoman Denice DiCarlo said she believes the budget could’ve been cut even further, and hammered at the fact that the township is spending more on professional services, despite that the township would save $150,000 with a new slate of professionals.

Calling increased spending on a township audit and fees to redevelopment counsel Mark Cimino to investigate an alleged missing $4.5 million from the RiverWinds golf and tennis project “an unsubstantiated witch hunt,” DiCarlo slammed the Republicans for spending more on without any sign of results.

“What, exactly, are we getting for this money?” she said. “It’s all for headlines.”

But Chintall disagreed with the notion the push for information——on the $9.945 million RiverWinds loan constituted a witch hunt.

“Just as an investigation, I don’t believe it is,” he said.