SCOTCH PLAINS – The township council on Tuesday introduced the 2024 operating and capital budgets, with the municipal portion of the total property tax levy this year rising by $68 for the average household.
The $31.7 million budget, said Deputy Municipal Manager Margaret Heisey, “provides outstanding municipal services, public safety and improved recreation facilities.” The $68 average tax increase – which works out to $5.66 per month – is “good news,” Ms. Heisey said, considering the headwinds of a 6.5 percent hike in insurance costs and an 18 percent boost in pension contributions. Municipal taxes will comprise about 14 percent of the total property tax bill this year, one of the lowest percentages in all of New Jersey, she noted.
The $3.271 million capital budget was also introduced and will fund the purchase of new equipment, new information technology equipment, new vehicles and other equipment.
A public hearing on the operating and capital budgets will follow a more detailed budget presentation at the council’s Tuesday, April 16 meeting.
In other business, Mayor Joshua Losardo said that he and township redevelopment professionals had “a terrific meeting” recently with representatives from Woodmont Properties LLC, the conditional redeveloper of the nine acres of public properties in the downtown business district, and what was made clear to him was that “we’re going to need a lot more time” to finalize matters. He said the discussions could extend “potentially into next year.”
The Fairfield-based firm and township redevelopment officials have spent the past nine months working on a redevelopment agreement for the properties—which encompass the municipal building on Park Avenue and the library on Bartle Avenue along with their adjacent parking lots as well as the municipal parking lot between Bartle Avenue and Westfield Avenue and the rescue squad property across from the library—along with the financing mechanisms for Woodmont’s purchase of those properties.
One of the factors in the extended negotiations is state department of environmental protection regulations governing how buildings are built in flood zones. A healthy portion of the downtown area is designated as a flood zone, meaning new buildings have to be designed to avoid issues related to excessive rainwater. An update on where matters stand will be presented at the council’s next meeting.
The council also approved a retail license to Sanctuary Cannabis LLC, whose dispensary on Route 22 will now be allowed to sell cannabis products to retail customers, not just those with medical marijuana cards. The 2024 municipal budget anticipates revenue of $100,000 from the sale of cannabis products at the three dispensaries that are now operating.
The council also introduced two ordinances – one to prohibit drive through or walk-up windows at the local cannabis dispensaries and another to prohibit outdoor lounges at those establishments – that will be voted on at its April 16 meeting.
At the start of the meeting, the council honored Salvatore Gano, a custodian at Evergreen Elementary School, who is a finalist for the Custodian of the Year Award. “Mr. Sal,” who’s has worked at the school for 33 years, was overcome with emotion when more than a dozen students from the school who were in attendance presented him with a gift of candies.
The National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution is honoring tennis star and professional golfer Althea Gibson, who learned to golf at the Shady Rest Country Club. A certificate and a medal will be presented to the Preserve Shady Rest Committee for display at the clubhouse.
A proclamation was issued declaring the week of April 7 to 13 as Local Government Week. Another proclamation declared the week of April 2 to 8 as International Dark Sky Week to raise awareness of light pollution and to celebrate the dark and natural light at night.
