March Monthly Message From Mayor Michael Choi
NOTE: The message below was delivered by the Mayor at the public Township Committee Regular Meeting on Tuesday, March 25, 2025.
Good evening Chatham Township.
It was a blue bird day today with enough signs of spring to suggest the nice weather just might stay with us for good. Spring sports is well underway. I see families back on the playground now that the frost has disappeared. Gardeners and landscapers are out and about readying yards for recreational enjoyment. For our valued staff and those of us on the dais, spring also means budget time! But more on that shortly.
e-Gov. I spoke earlier about e-Gov as an important theme for the Township. Multiple enhancements to the website have been added including online payment capabilities for the construction department, as well as online payments for pet licensing. We are intentional about delivering timely and relevant information to the public on business matters, including improvements to parks, Colony Pool, and to the trails in our community. I am pleased that our staff is successful in advancing the e-Gov initiative for the benefit of our residents.
Budget. The budget is our blueprint for how we plan to allocate our resources to deliver proper services to our residents. Each year, the finance sub-committee works diligently to balance fiscal responsibility with the needs and wants of our community. As these funds are your tax dollars, the gravity of financial stewardship on the sub-committee, and this committee at large, is not lost on any one of us. We are mindful of keeping taxes affordable, delivering quality services and achieving a host of other objectives. I would like to highlight for you several noteworthy things.
- Appropriations. $19.2MM vs $18.1MM
- Fund balance: $2.3MM vs $2.3MM – essentially held
- There were meaningful changes in public safety, insurance costs, increase in legal expenses (partly preparation for forthcoming affordable housing work as well as unexpected legal expenses), and gains from leveraging shared services in recreation and health.
What does this mean to the average household? For a homeowner with an average residential assessment of $870K, the following numbers apply: Municipal purposes tax portion for this year would $2,969, up from $2,797 in the prior year. This represents a modest change of $172/year or $14/month
In our world of $5 eggs, looming price increases for multiple industries and household goods from your mobile phone to your car, this new budget makes: (1) critical investments in human capital – timely hires in building, administration and Colony Pool, where a cadre of experienced pool leaders will be joining to continue operations at Colony; (2) continued commitment to public safety – to our police, to our volunteer fire (specifically facilities and equipment upkeep); and (3) it possible to safeguard our surplus of $2.5MM to maintain operational readiness throughout the year.