Bloomfield Budget: 'Good, But Not Great,' Mayor Says

Bloomfield officials passed a budget last Wednesday that Mayor Raymond McCarthy called "good, but not great."

The budget, summarized online here, calls for a $117 property tax increase for the average Bloomfield home, assessed at $280,300, an increase of 3.02 percent from 2012. With the increase, the average assessed home will be responsible for $3,915 in annual property taxes.

The total budget is $73,749,243.55, a increase of $2,405,900 over what the township spent in 2012.   

At $120,000, the employee group health plan was the largest single expense, followed by pension payments for police and fire, which totalled $108,777. According to the township's budget summary, the health plan cost decreased by .89 percent from 2012 while the pension cost rose by 2.04 percent.

The budget reflects the loss of property value in Bloomfield, noting that the 2013 average home value is $3,400 less than its 2012 value of $280,300.

McCarthy focused on two line items in particular during the council's discussion of the budget: the township's tax attorney and its labor attorney.

McCarthy alleged that the two township attorneys were doing less work for more money, saying that while the tax attorney handled 200 less tax appeals than in previous years, his fee increased by $75,000.

McCarthy proposed cutting their collective salary by about $150,000 but his motion was not seconded by any other officials.

Otherwise, salaries and wages are increased in the budget by 1.8 percent.