The new rate is $4.005 per $100 of assessed valuation for the year ending June 30, 2011, meaning the owner of the average $113,000 home will pay $4,525.65 for the municipal portion of the SFY 2011 tax rate, up $216.96 from SFY 2010. (To figure the amount on homes valued higher or lower, divide the assessed valuation of your home by $100 and multiply the result by $4.005.)
The municipal rate is up 5 percent from the SFY 2010 rate of $3.813. But in June, a preliminary tax rate of $3.968 was set for the first two quarters of SFY 2011, so part of the increase has already been paid.
Plainfield's fiscal year and the calendar year do not match up. The city adopted a fiscal year, from July 1 to June 30, in the early 1990s. The process involved a six-month "transition year" budget. Some council members have spoken in favor of returning to a calendar year, but no action to that end has yet been proposed. The preliminary tax rate approved in June covers the first two quarters of the new fiscal year, which are the last two quarters of the calendar year.
The city has had a very high turnover in finance directors since 2006 and just received a new chief finance officer after a vacancy of three years. Even though the current system is confusing, the city probably needs to regain a sound financial footing before switching back to a calendar year.
--Bernice
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