Freeholders adopt $286M county budget FREEHOLD - Following a number of public hearings, the Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders eliminated 18 vacant positions before adopting the 2007 spending plan by a 3-2 vote. The $471,854,000 budget, adopted March 8, limits the county tax levy increase to 2.9 percent, which means homeowners would pay an average of $41 more this year than they did last year. The proposed spending plan is up by $14,821,676, which county officials say is largely due to increases in fixed costs such as health expenses and pension obligations. Of that amount, only $2 million is considered discretionary and includes funding for public safety and education. "We have a good story to tell with this budget," Freeholder Director William Barham said in a press release. "We received a lot of valuable public input this year, and due largely to their suggestions we went back and re-examined our level of vacancies and eliminated 18 jobs." The savings from those positions, plus an extra $350,000 in anticipated revenue from housing federal inmates in the Monmouth County Correctional Institution, trimmed a total of $496,000 off the amount to be raised through taxation this year. The amount to be raised by taxation is $286.5 million, which represents that 2.9 percent increase. It is the smallest percentage increase for any county budget in the last eight years, according to the release. The county tax rate would differ in each municipality because it is adjusted according to equalized values. Freeholder Lillian Burry said she looks forward to the work planned by a bipartisan Budget Review Committee being assembled by Freeholder Barbara McMorrow to continue examination of the budget and the costs of services the county provides. Freeholders McMorrow and Anna Little voted against the 2007 budget.