A Message from the Mayor of West Paterson


	Write to Pat Lepore at: Mayor Pat Lepore Borough of W. Paterson Municipal Building 5 Brophy Lane W. Paterson, NJ 07424 or Send E-mail to: plepore @westpaterson.com The Mayor’s office door is open on Mondays for meetings with any Borough resident, but due to his busy schedule,appointments are preferable.

Pat Lepore
Mayor

The 2007 Property Tax bill was recently mailed to borough residents. Along with the tax bill was the following breakdown of how every tax dollar is distributed:

Distribution of Total Tax Dollars Collected
Municipal: 24% Schools: 51% County: 25%

     As you can see, the local and regional schools receive more than half of your tax dollars. The Borough receives less than one quarter of your tax dollars to provide municipal services.
     This year, the Council and I made cuts in the amount to be raised by taxation in both the defeated West Paterson school budget and the defeated Passaic Valley High School budget. In both cases, we were assured the cuts would have no effect on the education of our children.
     In addition, West Paterson, like every municipality in our state, has been handed down mandatory fixed costs that the

Council and I have no control over. These costs have contributed significantly to the municipal tax increase this year:

        Mandatory Re-funding the State Pension Fund
        Mandatory State Stormwater Regulation Compliance
        Mandatory Public Library Contribution

$ 125,000.
$ 120,000.
$ 63,000.

Additional increases in the budget that were beyond the control of the local governing body included:

Medical Benefits and Insurance
Garbage Collection

$ 173,000.
$ 121,000.

It is important to keep in mind surrounding towns have experienced the same burdens. The Council and I have worked hard to minimize the impact on the taxpayer.
In order to do this we have:

    »« Applied for and received over $2.2 million in grant funds to offset
         increases in property taxes over the last 4 years for fire and police
         initiatives, road re-surfacing and open space projects.
    »« These include a $135,000 short term loan converted to a grant for
         Dowling Gardens, a $30,000 planning grant for Zaccaria Park, and a
        $100,000 grant for Morris Canal, all from the Passaic County Open
        Space and Farmland Preservation Trust Fund.
    »« Applied for and were awarded a $200,000 NJDOT grant to re-surface
         Hillcrest Avenue.
    »« Applied for and have over $1 million in grant funds pending for various
         Borough projects.

Rest assured, the governing body of this Borough will continue to pursue grant money to offset the municipal budget.

When compared to our sister communities, West Paterson maintains the lowest municipal budget and this year had the smallest municipal tax increase. Totowa, Little Falls and West Paterson municipal budgets and budget increases are as follows:

Totals of Local Municipal Budgets for 2007

Totowa: $14.8 million • Little Falls: $13 million • West Paterson: $12.1 million

Local Municipal Budget Increases for 2007

Totowa: $820,159 • Little Falls: $887,704 • West Paterson: $640,000

Recognizing the high cost of property taxes throughout the state, Governor Jon Corzine is utilizing the state sales tax to offset the burden of local taxes. This year, based on household income, homeowners have received tax relief equaling between 10% and 20% of the previous year’s property taxes.
The State of New Jersey has also continued the Senior Property Tax Freeze Program. Senior citizens must apply each year for the Tax Freeze Program in order to remain enrolled. This provides an indispensible relief for homeowners on fixed incomes. I urge those of you who qualify to take advantage of the program. You can call our Tax Office at 973-345-8100, ext. 101, for more information on either program.

I promise you that the Council and I will continue our efforts to maintain services while holding the line on costs.

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