The Raritan GOP unanimously passed the 2021 municipal budget at the May 11th council meeting. "2021's budget totaled $12.2 million, a slight increase of about $70,000 from the previous year," Finance Committee Chair and Council President Nicolas Carra stated. "This was a tough year with COVID-19 related safety and cleaning expenses. The town is still waiting on FEMA to reimburse these costs."
Carra continued, "when the committee first sat down, we realized we had to cut several hundred thousands of dollars from the budget. There was no question in our minds, we would not raise taxes on residents during a pandemic." Despite increases in the overall budget, mainly on personnel expenditures, the finance committee was able to maintain the same level for services offered to residents.
“I would like to thank the hard work of assistant administrator Catherine Cook-Vitale, who was vital to the budget process,” Borough Administrator and Municipal Clerk Eric Colvin stated in the local Breeze Newspaper. “Together, along with Council President Carra, Mayor Bray and our team of auditors, we were able to once again deliver a flat, municipal tax rate to the people of Raritan.”
This was the eight year in a row that the Raritan GOP kept the Borough portion of property taxes flat. Mayor Zachary Bray thanked the committee for maintaining a flat tax rate for another year. “A job very, very well done,” Bray congratulated during the meeting following the budget's unanimous passing.