Your tax dollars at work. The 2023 budget details for Warren County’s biggest towns.

May 14, 2023

Warren County municipalities had until April 28 to set their spending plans for 2023, including general fund budgets covering the costs of public services.

By and large, property taxes pay for most services, and budgets are kept fairly unremarkable, but one consistent trend we noticed, across municipalities, was the approval of relatively flat or low tax rates compared to previous years.

According to Marc Pfeiffer, assistant director at Bloustein Local Government Research Center at Rutgers University, this trend was to be expected. Since towns are still trying to grapple with the long-term impacts of COVID shutdown and the cost increases created by ongoing inflation, local governments are doing what they can to make up for their losses without crippling their residents, he said.

“The predominant issue for towns this year will be balancing their needs against the demands of inflation and those things that inflation brings with it,” Pfeiffer said.

Higher health insurance premium costs for public employees, greater demands on capital improvement funding due to labor and product shortages, and increases in solid waste removal costs are among a number of the things tying up budgets this year…

“It’s different from town to town,” Pfeiffer said. “Ideally the town should keep a surplus that is a percentage of their revenues and consistent from year to year.”

Other signs of a healthy budget include conservative spending plans and reliable sources of revenue, he added— but ultimately, it’s up to the residents to decide.

Lehigh Valley Live, May 14, 2023

Recent Posts

“Work Trends RU” Podcast with WorkingNation’s Jane Oates

This week's guest on the Heldrich Center's Work Trends RU podcast is Jane Oates, Senior Policy Advisor at WorkingNation. She and Dr. Carl Van Horn discuss WorkingNation’s mission, objectives, and accomplishments; the power of digital storytelling; the challenges of...

Zhang et al. Study Street-View Greenspace and Exercise

GPS-based street-view greenspace exposure and wearable assessed physical activity in a prospective cohort of US women Abstract Background Increasing evidence positively links greenspace and physical activity (PA). However, most studies use measures of greenspace, such...

NJSPL: Some College, No Credential Population in NJ

Overview of the Some College, No Credential Population and Educational Outcomes in New Jersey, 2023–2024 New Jersey State Policy Lab Supporting New Jersey residents in returning to college after leaving without a credential has been an increasing focus of the state’s...

Loh and Noland Explore Public Charging Station Disparities

Equal charging for all: Are there income-based disparities in public charging stations? Abstract We compare charging station accessibility for different income groups in the San Francisco Bay Area. Using a microsimulation model, we estimate charging station...

Heldrich Center Releases New Work Trends Brief and Website

The Heldrich Center for Workforce Development is pleased to announce the availability of two new research products resulting from its long-running public opinion polling series, Work Trends. To better understand the public’s attitudes about work, employers, and the...