Polls close at 9 p.m. as residents vote on budgets, candidates.
By: Jeff Milgram
Now it’s up to the voters.
Residents of the Princeton Regional, West Windsor-Plainsboro and Montgomery Township school districts will join those of 547 other districts in the state and go to the polls today to elect school board members and approve or not approve school budgets.
In Princeton, polls are open today from 4 to 9 p.m.; in West Windsor-Plainsboro from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. and in Montgomery from 2 to 9 p.m.
There is no competition for the four seats up for election in Princeton. Incumbent Joshua Leinsdorf and newcomer Glen Schiltz are running for the two three-year seats from Princeton Borough. Board Vice President Anne Burns is running for re-election to the one three-year seat in Princeton Township.
JoAnn Cunningham is running unopposed for the one-year unexpired term from Princeton Township.
Residents also will vote on the board’s $58.8 million budget, up 7.5 percent from this year’s $54.7 million spending plan. The new budget will raise property taxes by 14 cents per $100 of valuation in Princeton Borough and 11 cents in Princeton Township.
Homeowners in Princeton Borough would pay $1.45 per $100 of assessed property value for the 2003-2004 school year, up from $1.31. The owner of the average home in the borough, assessed at $345,000, would pay $5,002.50 in school taxes. That would be an increase of $483 from this year, or 10.7 percent.
Homeowners in Princeton Township would pay $1.36 per $100 of assessed valuation, up from $1.25. The owner of the average home in Princeton Township, assessed at $411,800, would pay $5,600.48 in taxes, an increase of $452.98, or 8.8 percent over this year’s bill of $5,147.50.
In West Windsor-Plainsboro, seven candidates are vying for three spots on the school board.
In West Windsor, two challengers Jane Batt and Michael Newman are running against incumbent Stan Katz for a three-year term.
In Plainsboro, incumbents Dee Dee Dodson and Henry Wieck are squaring off against challengers Anthony Kosar and Liyou Yang for two three-year seats.
District officials are pushing for voters to "get out and vote" on the 2003-2004 school budget, which at $124.3 million, represents a $5.6 million, or 4.7-percent, increase over the current year’s budget of $118.7 million.
Recently, district officials organized several get-out-the-vote campaigns and absentee-ballot drives to make sure parents vacationing during spring break will be heard on Election Day.
If the budget is approved, the tax rate for West Windsor residents will increase by 5 cents to $2.57 per $100 of assessed property value. At that rate, the owner of a home assessed at the township average of $240,860 would pay $6,190 in school taxes up about $120, or 2 percent, from the current year.
In Plainsboro, the tax rate would increase by 10 cents to $2.016 per $100 of assessed valuation. The owner of a home assessed at the township average of $188,000 would pay $3,790 an increase of about $180, or 5 percent.
In Montgomery, board members Susan Carter, Dr. Reginald Luke and Richard Specht are running against newcomer Paul Kouroupas for three three-year seats.
A question asking voters to approve construction of a $1.8 million all-weather athletic facility at the site of the township’s new high school on Route 601 will be on the ballot.
An extra $266 will come out of the pockets of taxpayers owning homes at the township’s average assessed value if the question is approved. That is in addition to an already-existing $584 school tax increase included in the $52.7 million budget for the 2003-2004 school year.
The budget, adopted by the Board of Education on March 25, carries a tax rate of $1.57 per $100 of assessed value. For the average house in Montgomery, with an assessed value of $426,300, that means $6,710 in school taxes, 9.5 percent more than this year’s rate of $6,126.

