WEST MILFORD West Milford Township Council is aiming at an average $100 tax hike for residents in order to meet their spending proposals. Despite the increase, the council expects some lay-offs of township employees will be necessary to keep the increase from getting any higher. The council didn’t identify any of the possibly affected departments; however, the six councilmen, along with the mayor, will bear the accountability, rather than Town Administrator Rich Kunze. “We [the council] have to be straight up with our faces on camera and say Okay, here’s how we’re going to achieve this with personnel cuts’,” said Mayor Joseph DiDonato. Councilman Bob Nolan agreed with DiDonato’s sentiments, saying, “I’ll accept responsibility for those cuts.” Kunze had asked the council to agree to a $130 increase on the introduced budget pending further discussion to find the number of employees and each position to be cut. Kunze’s plan was to introduce the budget, eliminating personnel cuts altogether. There was, however, strong opposition to this from council members insistent on maintaining the $100 figure on the bottom line. Town Attorney Fred Semrau provided the suggestion which broke the deadlock. Semrau advised that the financial surplus maintained by the township be added to the budget to keep the increase to $100 as a temporary measure until personnel cuts are identified. While the budget is only at the introduction stage, there remains further debate until a final financial plan is agreed. The State of New Jersey places a deadline on municipalities to introduce their budget and submit it to Trenton. The council met on Monday night of this week and considered cuts needed to town spending based on several scenarios. Those scenarios were based on the average tax increase per household of zero, $25, $50, $75 and $100. The latter option was the most palatable by consensus of the council present. The council will meet again in town hall next Tuesday, May 16, to discuss the budget further. The council will also consider the board of education budget following its defeat at the polls last month.