Council must decide to either cut back road and sewer projects or raise taxes.
By: Jennifer Potash
Princeton Borough faces the harsh dilemma of cutting back on the number of road and sewer reconstruction projects or keeping up the present pace of the capital program by imposing higher property taxes.
The Princeton Borough Council on Tuesday discussed possible revisions to the six-year capital plan with that difficult prospect in mind.
Without "significant increases" in the municipal tax rate, the borough simply cannot sustain the current level of capital improvements, said Borough Councilman Roger Martindell.
"It’s pretty much a black-and-white tradeoff," Mr. Martindell said.
Borough staff trimmed back the 2003 capital plan, approved at $5.5 million earlier this year, to about $4 million.
The Borough Council unanimously approved three bond ordinances for spending most of those funds Tuesday. The ordinances cover spending for joint agencies such as the Sewer Operating Committee and the Recreation Department and projects in the borough including the drainage repairs on Jefferson Road and Humbert Street and a new fuel tank at the Harrison Street Public Works site.
The current capital plan contained annual capital budgets in the $2 million to $3 million range, said Borough Administrator Robert Bruschi. There were larger budgets in some years, such as 2003, when the borough shared with the township the $6 million capital allocation for the Princeton Public Library construction.
But increased construction costs and a decline in grants and state aid forced a few future budgets to exceed the $5 million range rather than returning to lower levels, Mr. Bruschi said.
Mr. Bruschi and the council’s Finance Committee both recommend establishing new priorities among the upcoming capital projects. The administrator said he was studying a few alternatives.
"We have to get a handle on what we can really afford," Mr. Bruschi said.
Under past capital plans, the borough increased its debt payments by $150,000 each year, achievable with smaller budgets but not for those in excess of $4 million, Mr. Bruschi said.
Councilman Joseph O’Neill, who will take over as mayor in January, said the borough must be clear with citizens if certain projects will be postponed.
"There is an expectation in the public about projects," Mr. O’Neill said. "We do not want to get blindsided on projects that have been pushed into another construction year."
The borough has a "delicate balancing act" to follow with scheduling the various projects, most involving roads and sewers.
Sewer projects may involve costly road reconstruction but an improved system will save the borough money in sewer charges over a span of 50 years, Mr. Bruschi said. Inflow and infiltration of water into the sewer pipes cause higher bills from the Stony Brook Regional Sewerage Authority.
And if the borough has only $1 million for road projects, the council must decide if it should spend that money on a greater number of resurfacing projects or a single reconstruction, Mr. Bruschi said.
"There’s a lot of balancing we have to do to sustain the capital budgets and keep our obligation as the custodian of the borough’s infrastructure," Mr. Bruschi said.