Manalapan Taxes Increase an Average of $20 Per Year

The Manalapan Township Committee approved the 2013 municipal budget on Tuesday night with a 4-0 vote; Committeman Andrew Lucas was absent from the meeting.

The final budget sees a total tax rate of 2.070 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. This tax rate includes the Manalapan-Englishtown Regional School District, the Freehold Regional High School District, county tax, municipal tax, municipal open space tax, and the fire district tax.

The municipal tax rate represents 17 percent of every dollar Manalapan collects. The 0.5 cent municipal rate increase translates to 34.4 cents for every $100 assessed valuation. The average Manalapan home is assessed at $379,421 for which this increase would mean paying an additional $1.71 in taxes per month or $20.51 more per year.

This budget is under the state’s 2 percent cap on property tax increases for municipalities by $332,336 and under the 3.5 percent appropriations cap by $604,176.

The entire 2013 operating budget is $30,914,343.50 is $781,891 less than the budget adopted in 2008, but $236,219 more than last year’s budget. Taxpayers are responsible for the bulk of the budget, funding 64.5 percent of the budget. State aid accounts for 12.5 percent of the budget with 11.3 percent coming from surplus.

The budget maintains all of the essential services in Manalapan including: law enforcement, snow removal, and leaf and brush collection. Additionally, all of the senior citizen programs, recreational programs, health and human services, building inspections, and garbage and recycling collection are included in this budget.