With Few Reservations Council Adopts Budget

In previous years budget season in Howell has been a difficult time of the year. Township employees have seen furloughs and other cuts while residents look to maintain the services they have come to expect in the township. 

This year's budget, which was adopted by the council on Tuesday night addresses many of the key issues in the township without the fear of furloughs and the likelihood of raises for the township's employees.

Deputy Mayor William Gotto said his third time working with the municipal budget was "by far the most difficult." Looking at the numbers and the impact it will have on the township Gotto said it was the hard work they put in over the past few years that helped get them to the budget they adopted on Tuesday. 

And while some neighboring municipalities are making cuts to departments and personnel, Gotto said he was glad Howell was not a part of that. "I feel pretty good about what we've accomplished," he said. 

Councilman Robert Nicastro said he was impressed by the work of Township Manager Helene Schlegel and the rest of the administration for the work that went into the budget. "I know this was a tough budget and I know we spoke about this that we went as lean as possible."

Fellow Councilman Juan Malave said that his first and likely last budget since being appointed back onto the council was a difficult one. "No budget is perfect," he said. "You always wonder whether you did the right thing or not or if there was something that you missed or could have done better."

As part of his comments Malave asked the administration what the average increase would be for a homeowner in the town with an assessed value of $350 thousand. Township Chief Financial Officer Jeff Filliatreault said their municipal taxes would increase $28.41.  

Malave said he "struggled," with the budget to find a way to provide the same services and not have an extra hit to the taxpayer's wallet. "This is a very lean budget," he said. "It's probably one of the leanest budgets I've ever worked on."

The councilman said he knew that while a $28 tax increase may not seem like a lot to some people, to others it is yet another added burden during difficult economic times. "Unfortunately this is the best that we can come up with," he said.  

Mayor Robert Walsh also agreed that Schlegel and her team made the best of a difficult situation. "I honestly believe you've done the best you could," he said. "I've watched over the last five years as the budget dollars have stayed the same and not had a decrease in the core services."

Walsh said he hoped to see an increase in the township's revenue in the future which will help to not only implement new programs in the future but also hopefully cut the tax rate for Howell's residents. 

For her part, Schlegel said from the time the budget was introduced to the time it was adopted "nothing really significant changed," as a considerable amount of work had been put into it beforehand. "We tweaked it a little bit more. We went over every number again. We just really looked at every possible area without making any significant impacts to the services that we're providing."

Schlegel said the goal of the budget was to keep things as they are in the township. "We want to make sure that we maintain a quality of life, maintain services and that really was our goal," she said. "Living within our means but still providing the services. 

After several years with no raises, Schlegel said they are in the process of working with the local unions to get township employees even a small increase. "We were able to find some additional cost savings in some areas and made some cuts that we were able to absorb," she said. If the proposals are ratified by the unions employees should see that increase as of May 1 according to Schlegel.