Monmouth County $481M Budget Adopted; Tax Levy Remains Flat

The Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders has announced it adopted a $480.9 million dollar budget without any tax increase for residents, for the fourth year in a row. 

The amount to be raised by taxation is $302,475,000, the same as it has been for the past four years. 

Taxpayers can see a graphical presentation of the 2014 Monmouth County Budget Presentation at this link.  

The final budget, adopted April 10, is now online: A one-page summary of revenues and appropriations is available on the county website at this link, or you can browse (and search by keyword) the full 76-page spending plan. 

County Finance Director Craig Marshall said that the freeholders reduced a gap between revenue and expenses by postponing a major bond sale, reducing funds to Brookdale Community College and through payroll reductions. Read more at NJ.com.

Freeholder Deputy Director Gary J. Rich, Sr., liaison to the Finance Department, said, “This year, an internal budget subcommittee met with each department to look for duplicative services and identify areas for consolidation and savings. This process has yielded savings in the areas of information technology, finance, human resources, building maintenance and legal services.”

Monmouth County taxpayers pay taxes to the county to support the maintenance of 1,000 miles of county roads, upkeep of the park, recreation and open spaces, five high school career academies, voting system, aging disability and veteran services, county jail, library system, 911 call center and county health department. 

County services typically account for 16 percent of the average resident's total property tax bill.