WESTFIELD — In preparation for the upcoming budget season, Councilwoman Linda Habgood and Town Administrator Jim Gildea met with residents at Town Hall on Thursday to review Westfield’s financial performance in 2023.
“We are in a very strong position this year,” said Ms. Habgood, who chairs the town’s Finance and Policy Committee.
Thanks in part to a $3.6-million settlement agreement with Westfield Senior Housing, Ms. Habgood explained, the town is prepared to enter into 2024 with $15.4 million in surplus funds.
“This is the highest surplus we have ever had in the history of the town,” Mr. Gildea said. “This will give us a lot of flexibility going forward.”
Several residents, including Steven Goodman, requested that some of the unexpected surplus funds be reallocated to the taxpayers in the form of direct reimbursements or additional savings.
Of the $186,712,581 that the town collected from taxpayers last year, 61.47 percent (or roughly $114,770,871) was allocated to the Westfield school district in accordance with state law. Another $36,470,642 was distributed to the county, and $4,444,311 was divided between the local library and the Union County Open Space Fund.
In other words, Ms. Habgood said, the town is left with just under 17 percent of the total tax collections — which equated to $31,026,757 in 2023 — to put to its own uses.
“We get a lot of questions about this because last year’s total budget was just over $51 million, and when you look at it on paper, it doesn’t add up,” Ms. Habgood said, explaining that the town relies on alternative revenue sources such as municipal court and parking fees and shared services agreements to fill in the gaps between its tax collections and its overall financial obligations.
Last year, Ms. Habgood continued, the town allocated about $19.6 million of its total operating budget to state mandated expenditures like insurance costs, utilities, and sewer services and spent another $19.2 million on salaries and wages.
Among last year’s key fiscal accomplishments, Ms. Habgood and Mr. Gildea listed the town’s maintenance of its AAA bond rating (the highest available to municipal governments), a strong tax-collection rate of 99 percent, and a higher-than-expected volume of construction permits which resulted in over $360,000 in unexpected revenue.
“We are expecting that permit applications will remain consistently strong in 2024,” Mr. Gildea said, explaining that the town has implemented a new online system designed to make it easier for residents to submit payments and applications.
According to the presentation, the town also managed to pave an additional 15 miles of municipal roadways, invest in License Plate Readers and solar-powered speed signs to support the police department and advance public- safety initiatives, plant over 600 trees, complete improvements to various public spaces, including Mindowaskin Park (which got a new fence for its playground) and Tamaques Park (which got new bathroom facilities near the picnic area), and increase its support of the local fire department by funding new staff appointments and upgraded equipment.
Looking to 2024, Ms. Habgood said the town intends to “prioritize public safety, promote downtown recovery, improve public amenities and identify creative sources of potential revenue.”
Ms. Habgood and the rest of the Finance and Policy Committee — including its two newest members, Councilmen David Kiefer and Michal Domogala — will continue to meet with the town’s numerous department heads to discuss spending requests and community priorities through mid-March. The town’s 2024 budget will be introduced to the public on Tuesday, March 26, and is slated for adoption at the end of April.
The budget meeting and its accompanying slide presentation can be found on the town’s website at westfieldnj.gov/2024-budget.
Residents are invited to submit questions and/or suggestions regarding this year’s budget to budget@westfieldnj.gov.
