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BRIDGETON - Cumberland County freeholders approved a budget Thursday that calls for lower taxes than expected.

Freeholders lopped off more than $600,000 of a $130 million budget on which the tax levy was already being cut for the first time in years. Now, the tax levy will drop from about $84.3 million in 2008 to about $83 million this year, tentatively setting up the lowest apportionment rate - upon which county tax rates are based - in 40 years.

The all-Democrat board had given the budget preliminary approval last month before adjusting the budget for Thursday's hearing.

About $269,000 in savings came from health insurance savings, while another $40,000 came from an unfilled public works director post, county officials said. The county collected an additional $60,000 through a deal to share its juvenile detention center with Gloucester County, and county officials tapped the county surplus for another $325,317.

All told, county officials used for this budget about $5.4 million of a surplus that was about $19.4 million in January, according to Marcie Shepherd, the county's top financial officer.

Pending approval by the county tax board, the apportionment rate will be $.8457 per $100 of assessed value, a drop of about 4.5 cents. That would be the lowest apportionment rate in 40 years, according to county officials. Each town's county tax rate is then set based on an equalization ratio that accounts for increases in property values in each community.

Freeholder Director Lou Magazzu, the county's finance chairman, said Friday he hoped this year's cut to the tax levy starts a trend. Prior to this budget, the county tax levy had doubled since 2000, from $41.9 million to $84.3 million in 2008.

"I'm hopeful that if the economy is not going to be any worse, we can do another tax cut next year," Magazzu said.

E-mail Daniel Walsh:

DWalsh@pressofac.com

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