County tax levy falls
By ROBERT LINNEHAN
The Cherry Hill Sun
5/1/2009

Taxpayers could see slight decrease in bill

For the third year in a row, Camden County Freeholders have reduced property taxes for county residents.

The 2009 county budget was introduced on April 7 and proposed the lowest county tax rate in the past 50 years, according to the county.

The freeholders said there would be no reduction in services for 2009 or a reduction in staffing among county employees.

The $326 million county budget will see a slight decrease in the local tax levy, which is $242 million. Most county taxpayers will see a slight decrease in their county property taxes.

According to county spokesman Ken Shuttleworth, the average county tax rate will be 56 cents per every $100 of assessed property value.

“We understand the economic hardships in our community and that is our guidepost on fiscal planning,” Freeholder Director Louis Cappelli Jr. said. “I don’t believe any other local government in the state has accomplished a levy reduction in three consecutive years.”

Property taxes were reduced through a series of shared service initiatives with other government bodies, Deputy Director Edward T. McDonnell said.

Cooperative purchases of office supplies and even the purchase of electricity went a long way to keep the property taxes low for 2009, he said.

The analysis and reorganization of the delivery of health care to county employees also led to significant savings for Camden County, he said.

The county entered into an agreement last year with the Center for Health Value Innovation, an organization dedicated to establishing value and sharing evidence for sustainable health and financial improvement.

“The credit for this remarkable budgetary achievement goes to every member of this Freeholder Board,” McDonnell said. “This board never forgets that it’s the taxpayers’ money we’re spending. And let’s not forget our employees. Make no mistake; if our employees did not actively partner with us every single day, reducing taxes would have been simply impossible.”

While there were several shared services initiated for 2009, Cappelli said there is still work to be done.

More shared services can be formed between the county and its eight semi-autonomous organizations: the Board of Social Services, Health Services Center, Camden County College, Camden County Technical Schools, Improvement Authority, Municipal Utilities Authority, Library Commission and the Pollution Control Financing Authority.

The freeholders also introduced the county’s $16 million capital budget, which features improvements to modernize the county 911 system and provides for infrastructure improvements to the county college, the technical school and the county park system, among other projects.

County residents will be able to voice their opinions on the proposed budget on Thursday, May 21, at 7 p.m. for the public hearing during the regularly scheduled Camden County Freeholders meeting at the Waterford Township Municipal Building.