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Cherry Hill, NJ 08002

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 Township Reduces Tax Rate

 

Since September, I’ve been working with our elected officials to cut costs to lessen the tax burden on our community. Together, with Town Council we’ve employed commonsense solutions to reduce expenses and run government more efficiently. Now as we prepare for the holidays the Township budget has been finalized and presented to the public.

 

As a community and as a local government these are the worst economic conditions in the last 50 years and certainly the worst I’ve experienced since I moved to Cherry Hill more than 40 years ago. Nevertheless, over the past three months, as an elected body, we’ve continued to meet the challenges of the global recession head on. Again, you will open up your tax bill and over the next two quarters see a savings on the municipal portion of the bill.

 

These measures were made with a steady hand and clear head and have met my primary goal that was set in June- a budget that reduces costs while preserving our critical public services. They were made through a variety of innovative ideas and a combination of cuts.

 

Innovative ideas like:

 

  • We’ve consolidated departments, such as combining purchasing into the legal department and reengineered other departments to run more efficiently.

  • We’ve reengineered operations.

 

  • We’ve taken pay cuts and asked for concessions from our six labor bargaining units.

 

  • We’ve cut staff.

 

  • We’ve frozen the cost of living increases for non-contractual employees.

 

  • We’ve introduced premium sharing - because we believe that all employees should contribute to their health care costs.

 

  • We’ve cut the cost of professional services by 10 percent.

 

  • We’re saving money through cuts to energy usage.

 

  • We’ve combined Township publications.

 

  • We’re pursuing shared services with neighboring towns to generate new streams of revenue.

 

  • We’ve brought traffic signal maintenance in-house to lock in costs and expedite service.

 

  • We’ve worked with PSE&G to garner new savings from the operation of our thousands of street lights throughout town 

 

In short, we are ensuring Cherry Hill remains the best place to live at the lowest possible cost. And in turn, this budget will preserve Cherry Hill’s premiere status as the town with the lowest municipal tax rate in Camden County.

 

Now, through hard work and determination, we are delivering a tax cut of $42 to the average homeowner. This is a drop of three cents on the tax rate, which is unprecedented during this tough time period.

 

During the last two budget cycles we’ve worked hard to stretch every penny to the limit in Town Hall and these are the dividends for making the tough choices and embracing new ideas. Going forward, we will continue to look for efficiencies in government- from conservation of resources to the implementation of new renewable energy projects on public land.

 

I don’t have to tell the people of Cherry Hill that these are hard times- they already know that. What I want our community to know is that we made the right decisions to lessen the financial load on them during these dark economic days.

 

We’ve listened to residents and worked hard to garner economic security here at Town Hall. Nevertheless, we still have more challenges to face, as all towns do:

 

  • We must continue to invest in the foundation of our Township - from our aging sewer system to road maintenance.
  • We must continue to preserve our police department and continue to keep officers on our streets.
  • We must continue to fund programs for our senior citizens who depend on Township services.
  • We must continue to search for new revenue sources as traditional ones, like building permits, continue to shrink.

 

All of these things must be maintained and my administration will continue to monitor the solvency and funding sources of our infrastructure. 

  

Again - we have cut spending and we are reducing the tax rate. Homeowners will see their bill shrink this winter and spring. As always, commonsense solutions are at the forefront of our efforts to cut taxes and keep Cherry Hill a prosperous place to live.

 

I believe this document is the first step in making sure Cherry Hill remains a place where community, commerce and culture thrive.

 

Budget 2010  

 

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