Wantage introduces budget

WANTAGE-The mayor and committee formally introduced a $5.9-million municipal budget on Feb. 24. The spending plan will raise taxes by $14 per $100,000 of assessed valuation. The average township home with an assessed value of $130,000 would pay $18 a year more. A public hearing on the budget is set for March 31. The budget calls for the same level of spending as the preliminary plan discussed three weeks ago. That document called for a six percent increase in spending, according to Township Manager Jim Doherty. The official budget, he said, increases spending by just two percent because it anticipates a higher rate of tax collection, and thus a lower surplus.