Byram taxes going up

Health benefits and police represent highest increases By Kathryn Kaplan Byram - Byram residents are facing a tax hike this year. On Monday, Byram Township Manager Greg Poff presented to the council the proposed 2006 municipal budget which calls for a 5.41 percent increase in the $8,564,790 annual budget. An average Byram home valued at $145,867 will pay approximately $111 if the budget is approved. According to Poff, the original budget figures called for a larger increase of $0.098, which officials were able to reduce to $0.076. “I am pleased to say the tax increase has decreased from what had been previously thought would be needed,” said Poff. Like many municipalities, insurance represented the largest increase in expenditures for Byram. General liability, worker’s compensation, health and dental insurance costs went up 11.14 percent. Those increases are at the heart of the breakdown in contract negotiations between the township and the police department. The township is asking for a contribution from employees to help cover the cost increases. Currently, members of the police department, as well as all municipal employees and their families, receive health coverage free of charge. Salary increases, longevity payments and a new chief of police salary contributed to a 9.57 percent increase in the cost of running the police department, the second largest increase in this year’s budget. “We will maintain the current service levels and the quality of life residents in Byram have come to expect,” said Poff. The council will hold a public meeting on the budget on May 1.