Livingston Taxes Jump 5.7% in $44.5M Budget

Livingston municipal taxes will jump more than 5 percent this year primarily due to more than $2 million in unpaid taxes from a single taxpayer. 

The Livingston Township Council passed a $44.5 million municipal budget on Monday night. The 2013 budget will include a 5.7 percent tax increase, of which 4.14 percent will be needed to cover $2,403,063 in unpaid taxes by the East Orange Water Commission. 

The average home assessment of about $602,308 in Livingston can expect to pay about $140 more than last year. This means the average homeowner’s 2013 municipal tax bill will be $2,602.

They EOWC has yet to pay its property taxes dating back to 2009 on about 1,500 acres of land it owns in Livingston. The EOWC continues to hold out even after a January court order rejected the EOWC’s argument that the 2009 tax bill was miscalculated due to incorrect mailing addresses on 32 of the 40 assessment notices and affirmed the township’s right to recoup those taxes. 

And until Livingston Township can settle that turgid tax bill, residents are stuck with the tab. The average resident will dole out 72 percent of his or her tax bill this year, or about $102, on account of the EOWC. 

Livingston’s Chief Financial Officer William S. Nadolny said the budget is good overall excluding the EOWC’s delinquent tax bill. The total budget for the township is up a meager .6 percent and taxes are up .8 percent. 

“We have been able to control costs,” said Nadolny, “we’ve been able to increase non-tax revenues .... As far as the operations of the township are concerned, we are controlling costs.” 

Livingston’s surplus is also significantly down this year. The surplus fell from $2.95 million in 2012 to slightly less than $1.2 million in 2013, which Nadolny attributed to shortfalls in tax collections, the EOWC being the primary culprit.

The township is additionally dealing with an influx of tax appeals from residents, the majority of which the township is losing. And every successful tax appeal increases the budget, said Nadolny. 

Between 2006 and 2012, the township refunded more than $10.4 million worth of tax appeals to residents. The 2013 budget will set aside about about 2.6 million for tax appeals.   

“We have been hit with a significant number of appeals in the last three or four years,” said Nadolny. Tax appeals in 2013 and in the future will continue to be a “significant challenge” for the township, he added.