Mar. 29, 2007 - County spending jumps more than 13%

Federal grants provides relief

Somerset County spending will jump 13.5 percent this year as the county freeholders approved their 2007 operating budget Tuesday night, but little of the increase will show up in residents' county tax bills.

The bottom line is up almost $31 million from the $228.7 million spending plan adopted by the freeholders last year. But federal grants will pay for the project that is driving the increase, the $32.5 million construction of an interchange at Route 22 and Chimney Rock Road in Bridgewater.

The county already has acquired land and commissioned design work for the road project, but construction is unlikely to begin before this fall at the earliest, said Freeholder Richard Fontana, who presented the budget.

The county tax levy will grow 2.26 percent, to $167.5 million. The effects on residents' actual tax bills will vary from town to town, be cause county property taxes are "equalized" to reflect market values instead of being based on municipal assessments. Those calcula tionswere unavailable.

Property values in the county continued to soar, driving the total of Somerset tax ratables to $61.2 billion, up 10 percent. The figure has more than doubled since 2000, largely fueled by higher tax assessments on existing properties.