Franklin Lakes Communal Debt

By The Franklin Lakes Journal

Published: July 4, 2010

Republican Governor Chris Christie and the Democratic state legislature reached an accord to cap property taxes in NJ, and apparently both sides are partying like it’s 1999; but, for most taxpayers in NJ there will be no party. In 1999 the average property tax in NJ was $4,239, in 2010 it was $7,281: a 70% percent increase in operating costs.

The existing cap implemented by former Governor Jon Corzine was for 4% with a multitude of exemptions. The new spending cap is for 2% with significantly less exemptions, but the remaining exemptions cover significant cost drivers such as pension, health care, debt payments.

Pensions and healthcare costs are two significant areas that have put both the state and municipal governments under a fiscal strain. Debt payments are another issue that many towns face, Franklin Lakes and Oakland being two of them.

*The references to debt statements here are from 2008 & 2002, and do not reflect additional debt authorized in 2009 or 2010; they also do not include debt authorized for school purposes.

For bonds and notes, Wyckoff’s debt is barely on the radar with the debt statement for 2008 coming in at $1,354,300. Franklin Lakes, due in large part to the reservoir purchase comes in at $16,648,250 for 2008. Oakland, for bonds and notes in 2008, is listed as having $13,532,091, with an additional $3,576,000 listed under self-liquidating bonds and notes. Self-liquidating debt normally applies to a utility operation that is self-sustaining and operates without a subsidy from the parent government.

Many in Franklin Lakes questioned the purchase of the reservoir, and point to the added debt payments as being a major issue in efforts to keep taxes down. 2002 saw Franklin Lakes listing only $7,954,336 dollars in bonds & notes, an increase of $8,693,914 between 2002 & 2008 .

Wyckoff, between 2002 and 2008 had only a modest increase of $820,300 in bonds & notes.

Oakland, while not increasing dramatically, has been carrying a steady debt between 2002 & 2008. The 2008 numbers for Oakland were approximately $13,500,000, and the 2002 numbers for bonds & notes was approximately $12,000,000. Again, Oakland also listed the additional self-liquidating bonds & notes which for 2002 were almost $6,000,000.