WHITE TWP., NJ [February 28, 2006] – The proposed Warren County budget for 2006 is available for public inspection on the official Warren County web site, www.co.warren.nj.us.

Introduced on Feb. 15, the budget allocates $97,850,551 for programs and services, requiring $60,036,930 in local property taxation.

A public hearing and vote on adopting the budget is scheduled for Wednesday, March 8, 2006, in the Freeholders’ Meeting Room of the Wayne Dumont, Jr. Administration Building, 165 County Route 519 South, White Township. The meeting will begin at 7:30 p.m., with the hearing scheduled for 7:45 p.m.

For the seventh year in a row, the Freeholder Board crafted a budget that reduces the estimated, equalized County tax rate. The 2006 spending plan cuts an estimated 1 cent from the 2005 equalized tax rate of 53 cents per $100 of property, putting the new estimated rate at 52 cents, a 2 percent reduction.

“This budget represents the Freeholder Board’s ongoing commitment to a ‘pay as you go’ philosophy that can be appreciated by any taxpayer,” Freeholder Director Everett A. Chamberlain said. He noted the budget dedicates $8.8 million for capital projects, including vital upgrades to the county’s 911 emergency communications system, building repairs at Warren Haven, the county-run nursing home, and modernization of the telecommunications systems in county offices, but still retires $1.1 million in debt.

The County has made its proposed budget available on-line every year since 2002. Summary information of the 2001 and 2000 budgets, and the audits from 2002, 2003 and 2004, are available on the county web site.

Copies of the budget also are available for public inspection at the Warren County Library headquarters in Belvidere and all free public libraries in the county.