West Windsor budget delayed

By: Gwen Runkle
   WEST WINDSOR — Due to continued contract negotiations and financial staff shortages, the township’s municipal budget is expected to be introduced at least two weeks late.
   The 2003 budget originally was expected to be introduced Jan. 15.
   "We wanted to delay introduction by a couple of weeks because our chief financial officer, Joanne Louth, has been out for a number of weeks with a knee injury," said Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh. "And since Adrienne Fanning, the township’s assistant CFO, left to take an administrative position in his hometown around Thanksgiving, she’s been a bit short-staffed."
   Mayor Hsueh also said the budget cannot be finalized without the results of ongoing contract negotiations with five of the township’s labor unions.
   "We’re working on getting the budget done," he added. "I can’t comment on specifics. There’s a lot to take into consideration."
   Last year’s budget of $25.2 million represented a 4-percent increase over 2001’s budget of $24.4 million and called for a municipal tax rate of 47 cents per $100 assessed property value.
   With that rate, the owner of a home valued at the township average of $250,000 pays $1,175 in municipal taxes.