Tax hike

For the second consecutive year, Middlesex Borough taxpayers are faced with a more than 7% increase in the municipal portion of their property tax bill.

The Borough Council unanimously introduced a $24.2 million budget for 2024 on Tuesday, April 9. As it stands, the budget would raise the municipal tax levy 7.4% over last year. The levy is the amount the municipality receives collectively from all taxpayers to support the budget. A public hearing and adoption of the spending plan is scheduled for next month.

In 2023, the council adopted a budget which raised the levy 7.55%. Property taxpayers are facing the prospect of a roughly 15% increase in municipal property taxes over a two-year period.

The effect of the 2023 increase was muted for many residential taxpayers as their home property assessment was reduced by the revaluation.

Municipal taxes account for about 29.5% of Middlesex Borough property owners’ total tax bill. The Board of Education’s budget accounts for about 54.4% with Middlesex County taxes making up the remaining 16%.

A new budget recently introduced by the school board calls for a roughly 4% increase.

Asked at the April 9 meeting about the council’s budget by Inside – Middlesex, officials insisted it is a lean spending plan with a few items driving the increase. Most predominantly are the replacements for several police officers who retired in recent years, plus the first, full-year costs of contracting with Somerset County for dispatching services.

Officials also noted that one key revenue source – various construction fees – were down roughly $177,000 in 2023.

During an interview on Saturday, April 6, Mayor Jack Mikolajczyk said it is important to keep the police department adequately staffed in light of the region’s criminal activity.

“It’s high, I get it, but it’s important,” Mikolajczyk said. “We need guys on the road. There are things happening right now.”

At the meeting, the mayor noted that the increases follow two years in which municipal taxes remained flat.

Officials released working budget figures. They showed the tax levy rising from $14,341,313 in 2023 to $15,410,454 this year.

The average Middlesex home, assessed at $425,000, would see its municipal taxes increased by $198 in 2024, if the budget is approved as proposed. That theoretical average home’s borough tax bill was $2,636 in 2023 and would rise to $2,835 this year.

Those amounts do not include additional taxes that would be paid to the local school district or Middlesex County.

According to the released 2024 figures, the items realizing the largest dollar amount increases are the police department (up $221,650 or 5.3%), road department (increased $111,400 or 11.8%), group insurance (up $100,000 or 3.25%).

Also, emergency dispatching services (increased $98,000 or 81.6%), Piscataway sewerage charges (up $90,000 or 34.6%), library funding (increased $82,522 or 11.9%), Middlesex County Utility Authority (up $125,000 or 8.4%).

The funding level for the borough library is dictated by state statute using a formula that includes the municipality’s ratables.

Along with construction fees, rental registration fees were much lower than projected in 2023. The borough anticipated $170,000 but only $36,000 was received. The council delayed collection of some fees last fall after several landlords turned out at a meeting to protest a planned increase. They were granted a payment extension.

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