Brick Municipal Budget to be Up for Final Vote This Week

The Brick Township council is poised to hold a public hearing and vote on final approval of the municipal budget for 2014 this week.

The public hearing and vote has been scheduled for a council meeting Tuesday night, according to a meeting agenda posted by the township.

The $97,338,613 budget, as proposed by Mayor John Ducey, will be supported by a $67,911,538 tax levy, amount to a $67 increase for the owner of a home valued at $258,000, the township's average.

While Ducey said he has cut more than $3 million from the previous year's budget, lingering financial losses from Superstorm Sandy as well as a harsh winter that brought a large snow plowing bill led to the rise in taxation.

The budget was supposed to have been finalized last month, but was held off until Superstorm Sandy funding arrived in township coffers. The federal funding is aimed at bridging the gap between the township's current tax base and what was lost during the devastating storm.

The township was waiting on $3.75 million in federal funding.