Lavallette Adopts 2019 Municipal Budget With Slight Increase

Lavallette Borough Hall (Photo: Daniel Nee)

Lavallette officials adopted the borough’s 2019 spending plan on Monday night, slightly increasing property taxes but keeping the town squarely among those with the lowest tax rates in New Jersey.

The borough’s 2019 budget will add up to $9,119,211. The budget will rise by 1.57 percent, or $140,976, as compared to 2018. The borough will utilize $3,163,238 in surplus and other funding to keep a property tax increase to $0.005 – one-half cent – per $100 of assessed real estate valuation. In all, $5,955,972 will be raised through local property taxes.

Lavallette also has set aside surplus funding to pay for a county-ordered revaluation which will be completed this year. The revaluation is expected to cost about $250,000.

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Only one member of the public spoke during the required budget hearing and was largely complimentary of the spending plan, though he revived his perennial question to borough officials on the amount of money reserved for uncollected taxes. The borough retains a certain percentage of funds from its operating budget to cover delinquent taxes, though the same funds are used to bridge the potential gap created by successful tax appeals.

Lavallette has one of the state’s lowest municipal property tax burdens in New Jersey, which in turn has the highest property tax burden in the nation. Last year, the average borough resident paid a combined total of $6,817 in property taxes (municipal, school and county taxes included), or 0.971 per $100. The New Jersey average property tax burden is $8,767.