TOMS RIVER – The township budget, which will result in a flat tax rate, was recently adopted by the Township Council.
The total budget will be $124,574,288.92, down $372,014.89 from last year.
The amount to be raised in taxes will be $81,559,694.26, an increase of $1,166,921.94 from last year’s $80,392,772.32.
The tax rate will remain unchanged at 63.3 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. For the average home, valued at $267,501.05, the tax bill would be $1,695.89.
The Township Council also approved the special improvement district budget. This is for Downtown Toms River, formerly known as the Business Improvement District. Although the township doesn’t craft this budget, it has to approve it. Downtown Toms River is a quasi-independent governmental body.
The district is split into two areas. Section 1 is the downtown area. Section 2 is area of the south side of Route 37. The taxes that fuel the district only come from commercial properties.
Section 1 will have $234,000 brought in by taxes. The tax rate will be 16.3 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. This is down from 16.5 cents in 2016.
Section 2 will have $26,000 brought in by taxes. The tax rate will be 48.1 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. This is down from 48.3 cents in 2016.
The total operating budget went up slightly, from $414,000 to $417,000, because of extra grant funding.
The total ratables for the district increased by $2.3 million
