MONROE — Mum’s the word, at least until later this week.

That’s Township Administrator Wayne Hamilton’s take on just how the 2010 municipal budget will eventually work out. Hamilton said he won’t have the final budget numbers until he knows just how much the township will receive in state aid this year.

“I won’t have those until the middle of next week,” Hamilton said. “We’re certainly not releasing anything until we know what’s going on with the governor on Tuesday. That may change the budget plan. We’re waiting with bated breath. We’ll be waiting to see how much we will get clobbered.”

Gov. Chris Christie was slated to deliver his 2010 budget address on Tuesday, shortly after the Sentinel went to press. State aid figures to municipalities will be released then.

“The question is how bad will the impact be, not whether there will be an impact,” Hamilton said.

Mayor Richard Pucci said it is unlikely there will be any municipal employee layoffs, but some positions will go unfilled through attrition.

“I told him [Hamilton] we want to try and keep the tax rate the same or just a minimal increase, and avoid layoffs as much as possible,” the mayor said. “We are confident we can pretty much achieve our goals. There won’t be any reduction in staff.”

Township officials last year laid off four employees — two in the construction department, and one each in the tax assessor’s office and the recreation department.

There was no increase in the municipal purposes tax rate in last year’s $42.95 million budget. The current tax rate is 62.4 cents for each $100 of assessed valuation. That translates to $1,098 a year in municipal taxes on a home assessed at the township average of $175,941. The total property tax bill also includes school, county and fire district taxes.

The township’s tax ratable base “held about even” in 2009, the mayor said.

“We’re a little above,” Pucci said. “We still did about 300 new homes. Our retirement homes still have a strong sale value. New homes in some communities are going for $350,000 or better. We’ve held on OK, given the recession. The new homes have kind of held their value. We are struggling, but I think we’re OK to get by for the next couple of years.”

But the number of property tax appeals increased last year, officials said.

“With the declining market, people are becomingmore and more successful as they appeal,” Hamilton said.

Hamilton and Pucci are hopeful that eventually township employees will begin paying a percentage of their salaries toward the cost of their health care premiums. Workers currently pay nothing toward the premiums, just co-pays on prescriptions and physician visits.

All of the union contracts are up at the end of the year, Hamilton said.

“In light of what’s happening in Trenton, we don’t know what the impact will be,” he said. “The state’s plan is to assess each public employee’s base salary at 1.5 percent.”

The bill has been approved by the state Senate and is currently being considered in the state Assembly, Hamilton said.

The township will also explore the possibility of joining Middlesex County’s joint health insurance fund, he said.

“Obviously, like every other community, there’s always the impact of the health insurance concerns,” Pucci said. “I think everybody is looking at it from a different perspective. Now you have a total reverse position. The state Legislature and governor will come down with certain regulations we will have to abide by.”

The township still has to meet its pension obligations each year.

“You have to live with that,” Pucci said. “It’s another fixed cost.”

And he doesn’t expect the state aid situation to improve over time.

“It’s a matter of the next five years being quite different from the past five years,” Pucci said. “This is a severe situation. We really have to go to the bones on the budget.”