Morris Plains Council OKs Budget With Small Tax Increase

The Morris Plains Borough Council unanimously approved its 2011 municipal budget, a $180,818 increase from last year’s budget, at a council meeting on Thursday night.

The total budget of $12,505,026 for 2011 includes a 2.67 percent tax levy increase over 2010. A law adopted last year allows for the tax levy to rise no more than 2 percent year-over-year without explicit voter approval, but makes exceptions for certain expenses, such as healthcare and pension payments. With those exceptions excluded, the increase is just 1.46 percent.

 The tax rate will increase from 63.3 cents per $100 of assesed value in 2010 to 66.2 cents in 2011. That's $29 more this year for every $100,000 of assessed value. That tax rate does not include county or school district taxes, which are set separately.

In a cost-cutting measure, all municipal employees of Morris Plains, including police, agreed to no increases in salary in 2011. Mayor Frank Druetzler thanked borough employees at the meeting, and, citing tough economic times, also said that there are no new programs included in this year’s budget.

“We try to be frugal; we try to maintain services,” said Druetzler.

“We keep a real tight control on what we spend,” said Councilman George Coogan. “For the services you get here, it’s pretty good.”

Coogan also discussed the Morris Plains community garden, which will be unveiled on Saturday, April 16 during a ribbon cutting ceremony at 12 p.m. The garden, located at 51 Central Ave., includes a fence to keep deer out, as well as an underground fence to fend off groundhogs, and was created with the help of the county.

Applications for either a 4-foot-by-32-foot or a 4-foot-by-16-foot plot in the garden are available on the Morris Plains Borough website, but, according to Coogan, as of the Thursday night meeting, only one of the larger and one of the smaller spaces were still available.

“The buzz word is ‘intergenerational,’” said Coogan, who described the community garden as a place where families can come together, with children, parents, and grandparents working together on their gardens.

During the public portion of the meeting, 2010 Democratic council candidate Frank Mangravite spoke about a stretch of Route 202 between Shop Rite and Briarcliff Road that he suggested should have a sidewalk.

“I feel it’s strongly needed,” said Mangravite. “But it’s not been done for as long as I’ve lived here…there is a safety factor, as well as a convenience factor.”

Mangravite addressed questions to councilmen Joseph Cecala and George Coogan, but Druetzler, the council’s chair, responded before redirecting questions to the councilmen.

Druetzler said applications have been made for grants to add a stretch of sidewalk to the road, but they have not been awarded to the town. Druetzler also said that he has never heard requests from Morris Plains residents regarding the road in question.

When the rest of the council was asked if they have heard of any residents asking about a sidewalk in that location, councilman Jason Karr said that he has heard a few requests for a sidewalk in the location, but no other members of the council said they have heard similar requests.

“Certainly if we had the money, if we had a grant, we would have done it,” said Druetzler.

Mangravite responded that it is a matter of priorities, and questioned whether other sidewalk projects in the borough are as important as the stretch of Route 202 in question. He also asked whether an estimate of costs for adding a sidewalk to the road have ever been completed.

The mayor responded that they have, when the grants were applied for, but that the exact figures were not immediately available.