Property owners in Woodcliff Lake can breathe a sigh of relief as the proposed 2008 municipal budget, which totals $10,863,168, including the debt service, will result in a zero increase in taxes for the year. The flat tax rate is due in large part to last year’s 3.07 percent increase in the borough’s ratable base, the largest increase in 10 years. As a result, although expenditures have increased by 0.8 percent, allowing the borough to maintain the current level of services for its residents, the impact will not be felt by taxpayers.

The budget, which is expected to be introduced on Monday, May 5, calls for $7,288,085 to be raised by taxes, making the tax rate $0.441 for each $100 of assessed property value. That means that the owner of a home assessed at the borough average of $624,000 will owe a total of $2,752 in municipal taxes. The debt service totals $915,281 for 2008, and reflects how much the borough has reserved for the payment of its loans. The borough has also reserved $702,400 for this year’s capital improvements.

According to Mayor Joe LaPaglia, the borough faced many of the same challenges as other Pascack Valley municipalities in producing this year’s budget. “We continue to suffer from significant increases in state employee pensions for the police, and to a lesser extent for municipal employees,” he said, referring to the state mandated increases in pension contributions, an area that accounts for a large increase in budgeted expenditures. The borough’s contribution to police pensions increased by $128,040, up 47 percent over last year, and the contribution toward public employees’ pensions went up $41,892, a 77 percent increase. “That was the largest single challenge,” said LaPaglia.

Another challenge the borough faced was the proposed cut in state aid. According to Borough Administrator Ed Sandve, “we haven’t had a cut in state aid in probably 20 years.” State aid to the borough is expected to be cut by $108,914; this is part of a budget package proposed by Gov. Jon Corzine supposedly meant to encourage municipalities with fewer than 10,000 residents to merge with one another to cut costs.

The borough has also seen a steep increase in energy costs; utilities for 2008 are projected to be $43,434 more than last year, about a 13 percent increase, which reflects the rapidly increasing cost of gasoline and petroleum-based energy. Also among the larger budget increases is $37,600 to be dedicated to the planning board. The sum will cover a study that the board and borough planner will conduct of the borough’s Broadway corridor, which LaPaglia calls “sort of a mini master plan,” the focus of which would be to “create a downtown type area along Broadway.”

There are some areas in which expenditures are expected to go down, however. For instance, the borough’s employee group insurance costs are projected to be $77,785 in 2008. Police dispatch costs should be going down as well, by $25,417. This decrease reflects “the initiative in moving Tri-Boro [police dispatch] to the Northwest Bergen central dispatch station,” according to LaPaglia. Sandve added that the borough can expect to see greater savings in this area in the long term.

The borough has proposed a diverse array of capital projects for the upcoming year, for which it plans to borrow $976,400 in 2008 and approximately $400,000 over the two subsequent years. LaPaglia pointed out that the expansion of the borough hall is not among these projects. The priciest of the items in the capital budget is the borough’s road resurfacing projects, which are projected to cost a total of $600,000, $200,000 of which will be appropriated for 2008. The borough will also work on redesigning the Werimus Road / Woodcliff Avenue intersection, which is projected to cost $25,000. According to Sandve, in this particular case, “the town pays for engineering costs and the county actually pays for the improvements through a bond fund.” The DPW has requested three new vehicles, which are included in the capital budget, including a front-end loader, at $145,000, a flat bed truck, at $89,000, and a garbage truck, at $190,000. 

LaPaglia expressed pride in this year’s budget. “We are very pleased at how we came out,” he said.