This year, the township has $4.607 billion in tax ratables -- a decrease of $8.95 million from 2007.

"We are in dire economic times. People are appealing their (tax) assessments, not only homeowners, but also businesses," Platt said.

The slower-than-anticipated development of the former Garden State Park racetrack at Route 70 and Haddonfield Road isn't helping matters because new taxable properties aren't coming online fast enough to stabilize taxes, the mayor said.

The township has already begun consolidating its human resources and finance departments, which resulted in four layoffs. More nonpolice layoffs are possible, Platt said, and the township is also looking to decrease nonessential services within the recreation department.

Platt said he also would like to present a ballot question to voters about consolidating the Cherry Hill Library into the Camden County Library System.

The Cherry Hill library is set to receive about $5 million in the coming year in local funding. That makes up nearly 10 percent of the municipal budget, the mayor said.

"Desperate times call for desperate measures and right now, as you know, we are in desperate times," Platt said.

He criticized the Cherry Hill school district and fire district for, in his opinion, not doing enough to cut staff and negotiate tougher labor contracts for employees. The mayor assailed the school district for giving teachers a 4.5 percent salary increase.

Many people who attended Monday's meeting, some of them from the school district, criticized the mayor for pitting government entities against one another. They said the results of the mayor's tax talks could be a defeated school budget later this month.

"I am appalled as a taxpayer that you can stand there and point the finger at the school district," said resident Renee Kessler, who said she has a child in the public schools. "I think we need to work on a solution together."

Said Betsey Kirk, a resident and a Cherry Hill schoolteacher, "You don't realize that Cherry Hill schools are Cherry Hill. If the schools go down, the community will go down, just like a rock."

The school district has cut administrators and dealt with state aid reductions for two decades until this year's increase, said school board member Sharon Giaccio. The district will receive about $16.5 million in state aid in 2008-09, about $1 million more than 2007-08, according to the state Department of Education.

The teachers' 4.5 percent salary increase is below the average for the state and Camden, Burlington and Gloucester counties, Giaccio added.

The mayor said his tax talks weren't meant to be adversarial but to talk openly about the township's tax situation and begin a dialogue among the various government entities.

"I didn't take any offense to the mayor's comments," said Fire Chief Robert Giorgio. "I just think that there's a lot of frustration out there, not only in Cherry Hill but around the state."

Such frustration shouldn't result in knee-jerk reactions like consolidating the township library with the county system, said Cherry Hill Library Director Manuel Paredes.

Paredes said consolidating would only mean transferring the cost from the township to the county and wouldn't save taxpayers money. It also would likely mean a reduction in services, he said.

Some residents, however, favor a library consolidation.

Mark Markos, who said he has lived in the township for 43 years, reasoned that when an expense is spread out over a larger population, people will pay less.

"I think it's justified because of the times we are in," he said.

Reach Lisa Grzyboski at (856) 486-2931 or lgrzyboski@courierpostonline.com