Knowlton to See Average $29 Tax Hike

April 25, 2023

Knowlton Town Hall off Route 46. Photo by D.L. Dunn Spring, 2022

A budget that will see an average annual property tax increase of $29 was adopted by the Knowlton Township Committee April 10th.

The $1.58 million budget is within the state-mandated spending cap, said township auditor John Mooney said.

“We have a pretty good budget tonight,” Mooney said during the presentation. “There’s nothing that we really have to cut to be compliant.”

Mooney did offer one caveat, however, point to the volatility of the economy.

“There’s a lot of turmoil right now. I’m sure a lot of people watching the news of what’s happening with the banking industries and the amount of layoffs that are happening with Microsoft, JP Morgan,” Mooney said. “We’re concerned about residents not being able to pay their taxes and then we’re going to have less income coming in.”

Health insurance costs were on of the biggest hits with the 2023 budget, increasing more than 50 percent. The township’s share of the cost rose from $110,000 in 2022 to $175,500 this year. Employees’ share rose from $10,000 to $26,000.

Mooney explained that the employee share, which is set by the state of New Jersey, is a sliding scale with higher-paid employees paying a larger share of the costs.

“You could have two employees having the same exact policy, but an employee with a higher salary is going to pay substantially more than an employee with lower salary,” he said.

Mooney said the current health benefits policy is through the state of New Jersey and while alternatives have been explored, the small number of employees in Knowlton makes the cost disproportionately higher.

“If you were in a larger district, a larger school board, here you have hundreds of employees, it might be beneficial,” Mooney said. “But the municipality, after doing substantial research, it wasn’t beneficial, was not the risk of what you need. My understanding is once you leave the state of Jersey health benefits, there’s no going back.”

Joe Phalon, Contributing Writer

Contributing Writer

Joe brings decades of journalism experience to the Ridge View Echo, covering everything from local school boards to the U.S. Supreme Court. A former National Law Journal editor and Columbia Law School press officer, he now enjoys telling community stories in Blairstown, where he lives with his wife, Rose, and their two dachshunds.