Mat. proposes 13% budget increase MATAWAN - The Borough Council introduced a $9,692,419 municipal budget, a 13 percent increase over last year. According to Chief Financial Officer Monica Antista, the budget introduced March 18 calls for a tax levy of $6,376,999, which would increase the tax rate by 7.2 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. Last year's budget was $9,412,822. "Residents should remember that this is before school and county taxes," Antista said. "Last year the municipal budget made up 24.68 percent of the total tax bill while schools made up about 63.77 percent and the county accounted for 11.55 percent." Antista said this year the state aid was cut by almost $200,000. "We may be able to recoup $100,000 of that, depending on what Gov. [Jon] Corzine decides to do about the state budget," Antista said. "So, we had to introduce our budget without the state aid." This year's big-ticket items are the police and firemen's retirement systems, which are increasing by $125,000. "Utilities went up tremendously," Antista said about the $53,000 increase to pay municipal utility bills. "We are also expecting a 10 percent increase from JCP&L in July." There will be a public hearing on the proposed budget April 17 at 7:30 p.m. in the Matawan Municipal Community Center.