IRVINGTON, NJ — The end of August is approaching and the Irvington Municipal Council has not yet approved a calendar year budget for 2015, to the concern of some residents.
According to the township Clerk’s Office, the $101 million municipal budget was introduced Tuesday, May 12, but has yet to be approved by the council.
“On Tuesday Aug. 11, at the council meeting, it was explained that the state is still reviewing the taxes and the budget for Irvington at this time, which is beyond the fiscal limit,” Irvington NAACP Vice President Kathleen Witcher said Saturday, Aug. 15. “I’m very concerned about that, because, when I received my bill and I paid it for the beginning of August — it said ‘estimated bill,’ but this is a real bill — that you have to pay in other words. So I paid it. But if we don’t know what our budget is, then it’s hard to strike a real tax rate and I’m very concerned about it, because it does affect a lot of homeowners and, eventually, it may be passed on to the renters that have to foot an extra rent bill, too.”
According to records on file in the Municipal Clerk’s Office, the calendar year 2012 approved budget for $100,126,302.71 was approved June 6, 2012; the 2013 approved budget for $99,434,619.74 was approved May 29, 2013; and the 2014 approved budget for $99,802,832.80 was approved June 24, 2014.
“I don’t know about anybody else, but my taxes increased,” Irvington NAACP President Merrick Harris said on Monday, Aug. 10. “My taxes went up for 2015. Even last year, when I approached the council, I spoke to them and said the third quarter taxes for last year were higher. And then in the first, second and third quarter, our taxes were higher this year than they were last year. So that constitutes for me a tax increase. I can show my tax records to prove it.”
According to Harris, when Irvington moved to a calendar year budget schedule from the fiscal year schedule, the annual budget should be ready by Jan. 1. But, he said that has not been the case in Irvington with the current and previous administrations.
“It was finally May or June when they came up with a budget for 2015,” Harris said. “To me, that’s the main issue. When you get a budget, then you have to stick to it. A budget kind of keeps things under control. It keeps spending down and holds people accountable.”
Reached for comment Tuesday, Aug. 18, council President Charnette Frederic said, “We completed our budget hearing by December 2014. We introduced a flat budget on first reading on June 9, 2015. We are waiting on the state approval. Irvington residents, rest assured that we are monitoring our spending to be within budget.”
According to Witcher, her taxes have increased since Mayor Tony Vauss was sworn into office on July 1, 2014, saying, “I certainly had a tax increase and I question why we keep going beyond the 2-percent limit and whether or not a waiver was issued by the state to raise the taxes above the ceiling this year. In the previous times, they said it was for a payment for police and fire and the waiver has to be issued annually, so I wonder if there was an annual waiver given this year or whether they just raised the taxes above the ceiling this year. It’s another burden and it adds to the threat of abandonment in the town, which is increasing.”
Witcher said residents faced with increased bills have been telling her they’ve decided they should move from Irvington “because they can’t afford to stay.”
The Irvington NAACP has organized mortgage seminars, tax appeal workshops, legal information sessions with tax lawyers and other events designed to help beleaguered homeowners and taxpayers stay in their homes and keep their heads above water, fiscally.
But Witcher said this has not stopped the taxes in town from increasing, and that this is shaping up to be the main issue in town.
“The present council members who ran on the ticket with Mayor Vauss voted for the budget last year and that effectively meant that our town tax assessor raised the tax rate, because, as he explained it earlier, he had to pay for the operations of the town,” Witcher said. “And because there was an increased number of houses that went into mortgage foreclosure and abandonment, it added to the tax burden on the individual homeowners. That was unfortunate, because, when we did the property revaluation, that was to bring the market values of the homes closer in line with the true market values, which would have lowered the taxes.”
Harris said taxpayers seem to be caught between a rock and a hard place when it comes to taxes, adding, “Part of being a citizen is holding elected people accountable and the way that you do that is to go to these council meetings and ask questions and find out about the issues.”
“But when the tax rate is increased, then the taxes go up,” Witcher said. “And Mayor Vauss may say that he didn’t raise it, but the council voted and that’s where it stands and that has been unfortunate for me, because it has meant for me another increase and another extra bill to pay.”
Harris agreed with Witcher, saying, “One of the things with this administration is they boasted that there was not a tax increase. But in reality, there was. They blamed the increase on the past administration, but they didn’t even vote on a budget for 2014 until after they were elected and sworn into office. I feel it was the new administration that made the tax increase, because they voted on the budget.”
Vauss could be reached for comment about the calendar year 2015 budget or the tax increase.