Proposed $769M Essex County Budget Would Mean Small Tax Increase – Belleville, NJ Patch

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo Jr. proposed a $769.9 million budget for 2020 last week, calling it a “balanced and responsible” spending plan.

The budget proposal has been forwarded to the Essex County Board of Chosen Freeholders for review.

According to DiVincenzo, the proposed budget addresses “challenges due to the ongoing national economic conditions.”

The budget includes a 0.5 percent property tax increase, which is below the 2 percent cap limit mandated by the state. It’s the second consecutive year the increase was held to half a percent, county officials said.

Over the last 18 years, Essex County has held the increase in property taxes to about 2.28 percent, which is the fifth-lowest percentage rate of increase of all New Jersey counties behind Hunterdon, Monmouth, Burlington and Somerset counties, officials stated.

Essex County’s workforce has been reduced from a high of almost 4,000 employees in 2003 to 3,544 in the 2020 budget proposal. Layoffs have been avoided since 2004, largely by not filling open positions unless they are “essential to public safety and public health operations,” officials said.

The fund balance projected for 2020 is about $76.8 million. This reserve helps the county respond to emergencies, displays fiscal stability to bond rating agencies, and has helped improve the county’s cash flow and avoid taking out Tax Anticipation Notes for the last five years, officials said.

County officials said that $30 million in fund balance is being used as revenue in the 2020 budget. The county’s “strong fund balance” also has been utilized to pay for capital projects, one example being the construction of the third parking deck at Turtle Back Zoo, officials stated.

Freeholder President Brendan Gill said the county is being run “efficiently” and offered praise for DiVincenzo and his administration.

“The one thing I enjoy is that because the county’s financial situation so strong, the Freeholder Board can work on a lot of other issues that come before us,” Gill said.

BOND RATING BOOST

DiVincenzo trumpeted the county’s Aaa bond rating with a Stable Financial Outlook, which it earned from Moody’s Investors Services in August 2018, as a major financial foundation for the future.

The county has used its new bond rating to help municipalities and school districts obtain interest savings when borrowing for capital projects and equipment purchases, he said.

For example, Essex County partnered with Newark to help it get $120 million in funding to speed up the replacement of thousands of lead service lines, one of the suspected sources behind the city’s water contamination woes.

In addition, through its first-ever Pooled Government Loan Program, Essex County bonded $11.9 million to help the municipalities of Irvington, Roseland and West Caldwell and the public school districts in Belleville, Cedar Grove and Livingston borrow money for equipment purchases at reduced interest rates.

“We have worked aggressively over the last 18 years to address long-standing issues affecting Essex County and strengthen our finances,” DiVincenzo said.

“These past few years, we have seen the fruits of our labor – getting a Aaa bond rating, helping Newark accelerate the replacement of its lead water service lines and partnering with our municipalities and public school districts to purchase equipment,” DiVincenzo added. “These would not have been possible if we did not remain vigilant about keeping our financial house in order.”

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