Proposed budget is $15.6 million

The Town Council introduced a proposed 2004 municipal budget of about $15.6 million at its March 11 meeting.

About $9.6 million would be raised through taxes.

In 2023, about $9.5 million of the $16.4 million budget was raised through taxes.

The proposed 2024 capital budget includes $1.1 million for firehouse improvements; $889,000 for a boardwalk connecting the Rail Trail and Memory Park; $350,000 for renovations of the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system at the municipal building; $210,000 for road resurfacing; and $40,000 for crosswalks in the Liberty Street area.

The proposed water/sewer utility budget is about $6.2 million compared with about $5 million last year. The 2024 spending plan, which is funded with fees, includes an anticipated operating surplus of about $1.3 million, compared with a surplus of $614,900 in 2023.

A public hearing and final vote on the budget is scheduled April 8.

The council also approved contracts for improvements to Clinton, West Nelson and Division streets. Riverview Paving will be paid $118,834 for milling and paving those streets and Denville Line Painting will receive $2,297 for traffic striping.

Bond ordinance approved

At its Feb. 26 meeting, the council approved an $800,000 bond ordinance to finance improvements to Firehouse No. 1, according to the meeting minutes.

At the Feb. 12 meeting, Town Manager Thomas Russo Jr. explained that the money from the bond ordinance would be added to about $739,000 left from a 2023 ordinance for the renovations.

The total of $1.5 million will be used for phases 1 and 2 of the project, which are renovations of the inside of both levels of the building at 22 Mill St.

The council is scheduled to consider a resolution to approve a $1.5 million contract with TNS Construction of Stanhope for the renovations at its meeting Monday, March 25.

On Feb. 26, council members also approved ordinances to establish a cap bank, which would allow the 2024 budget to be raised by more than the amount permitted by the state, and to revise rules for the Length of Service Award Program (LOSAP) for the Volunteer First Aid Squad.