Hazlet a step closer to adopting $18M budget HAZLET - The Hazlet Township Committee held a public hearing on the proposed 2008 budget during the May 6 meeting at town hall, with little comment from residents on the $18.3 million spending plan. The budget would increase the tax rate to $1.084, a 0.5-cent increase over last year, according to Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Catherine Campbell. For a home assessed at $135,468, the annual tax bill would be $1,468, which is about a $68 increase over last year. About $50,000 was put aside for bond down payments on capital improvements in the township, according to Campbell. Part of the funds will be used for a $412,000 bond to acquire the Pfleger property, Middle Road, as well as to match a $206,000 Monmouth County grant for improvements to that property, she said. The bond ordinance to fund the acquisition of the 1.84-acre tract known as the Pfleger property for open space preservation was approved. The rest of the money used to acquire the property is coming out of the Open Space Trust Fund, but Hazlet has to show GreenAcres that the township has bonded and has the total amount of money. The township would appropriate $412,000, with $206,000 coming from a state Green Acres grant, and would authorize $412,000 in bonds or notes to be issued by the township to finance the remainder. Capital improvement funding would also be used in a bond to match a $238,000 Monmouth County Open Space grant for improvements at Veterans' Park, Union Avenue, Campbell said. The budget will be voted on at the committee's next meeting on May 20. - Jamie Romm