Secaucus school officials have proposed a $31.6M tax levy for the 2012-13 school year, a $620K increase over this year’s hard-fought budget. A key increase is employee benefits, which is rising from this year’s $6.1M to $6.5M in the proposed 2012-13 budget. As a percentage of salaries, benefits are rising to 31.5%, compared with 30.5% [...]

The mayor and council introduced Secaucus’ 2011 municipal budget on March 22, months ahead of schedule based on recent years, laying out a $46.3M fiscal plan with a tax increase the governing body hopes to trim and adopt by late April. The fiscal plan came in $600,000 under the state’s two percent property tax mandate, [...]

Secaucus superintendent Cynthia Randina unveiled the district’s proposed 2011-12 school budget on Thursday night at Huber Street School with a 3.3% increase over this year’s levy. While the budget was the centerpiece of the board of education’s monthly public meeting, a student’s appearance before the board last month sparked a tense back-and-forth between the student’s [...]

Secaucus has secured $50,000 in grants to upgrade lighting and heating at three town facilties with a nod toward efficiency and saving money down the road. Mayor Mike Gonnelli said the funds — Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grants totalling $20,000 and $30,336.03, respectively — will pay for replacement of light bulbs, fixtures and heating [...]

The Secaucus mayor’s office said today that special assessments have been issued for three projects totaling $5.5M in town that were previously being covered by taxpayers. First Ward Councilman Gary Jeffas said in late July that town officials discovered that taxpayers had been footing the bill — principal and interest — for the projects, as [...]

Update 8/30: The 2010 budget passed 7-0 tonight at a public meeting of the mayor and council. Mayor Mike Gonnelli said town officials were able to knock off another $250K to drop the increase from 2.2% to 1.9%. * * * Secaucus has set a public hearing on the $45.4M 2010 municipal budget for Monday, [...]

The town council on Tuesday night postponed voting on the 2010 budget because of two matters before the Local Finance Board that have delayed the process until August. But Secaucus officials said they have continued to crunch numbers and hope to reduce the proposed 2.2 percent tax hike further before a final vote. Meanwhile, austerity [...]

As Secaucus residents will have a chance to comment publicly on the proposed 2.2 percent tax increase that comes with the 2010 budget Tuesday night, it’s worth taking a look at what surrounding communities are facing. We’ve heard praise for the town council for keeping the increase low in tough economic times, as well as [...]

Secaucus taxpayers’ onerous multimillion-dollar annual bill to the Meadowlands Commission could be a thing of the past if legislation advancing in Trenton and tacitly supported by the governor passes as expected later this year. Secaucus will pay more than $2.7M to the commission this year under an obligation the town has been fighting for years [...]

Secaucus Mayor Mike Gonnelli elaborated on several factors today that complicated the process to lock down a budget proposal for 2010 with what he deems a “modest” tax increase. A seven-figure rise in pension costs and large jumps in healthcare and other obligations made reining in the budget a difficult task, Gonnelli said Thursday. For [...]