Madison Budget Adopted With 4-2 Vote

The Madison Borough Council adopted the municipality's 2013 budget with a 4-2 vote Monday.

As introduced on March 11, the budget called for a 1.48 percent increase in property tax revenue for the municipal budget. The spending plan was amended Monday to reflect a proposed change in the open space tax rate, lowering the rate from 2 cents per $100 of assessed value to 1.8 cents.

Council members Jeannie Tsukamoto and Rob Catalanello cast the "no" votes on adopting the budget.

Tsukamoto said reflecting all of the revenue anticipated from the borough's shared services contracts could have taken away the need for tax increases. Mayor Bob Conley said Madison counts its contracted revenue over two years as a way to budget conservatively and create surplus.

Tsukamoto also said the borough has enough surplus—more than $12 million in Madison's municipal, electric and water surplus accounts at the end of 2012—and that the accounts increased by $2.2 million in 2012, even after paying $1 million for emergency Superstorm Sandy costs.

She said tax increases should be based on needs, not "arbitrarily asking taxpayers for more money."

Tsukamoto and Catalanello cited an anticipated decrease in electric costs for the borough's electric utility as a possible reason for a smaller budget. Conley said those savings would not be able to be reflected in the operating budget until 2015.

Councilman Ben Wolkowitz, the governing body's finance liaison, told Catalanello that the budget Catalanello voted against last year turned out to be a good budget, and he thinks the 2013 budget will work out as well.

Council President Carmela Vitale and council members Astri Baillie, Wolkowitz, and Landrigan voted to adopt the budget. The 2013 budget was the first budget adopted without a tie-breaking vote from the mayor since 2010.