Environmental health agency and reverse-911 phone system proposed by county executive.
By: Jennifer Potash
The proposed Mercer County 2004 budget offers funding for some long-sought projects by Princeton Borough and Princeton Township along with a jump in the county tax rate for those municipalities.
The $224 million spending plan, released Wednesday by Mercer County Executive Brian Hughes, calls for funding a Mercer County Environmental Health Agency with $142,500, and a reverse-911 phone system for $200,000.
"County government should take the lead in providing services that would be far too expensive for towns to provide one by one," said Mr. Hughes, a Democrat, who lives in Princeton Township.
The Princeton Regional Health Commission, which serves Princeton Borough and Princeton Township, has sought a county health office since 1998 to coordinate health matters among the 13 municipalities in Mercer County, said commission member Grace Sinden.
"After 9/11 this became more urgent with new threats such as bioterrorism," she said Wednesday.
Opponents of the county health office, such as former County Executive Robert Prunetti, have argued the new agency would duplicate municipal effort. Ms. Sinden disagreed, saying the county would coordinate regional health issues.
The budget also calls for a reverse-911 phone system that would call residents’ phones to report hazardous conditions such as a flood or emergencies like a missing child.
The proposal is "a wonderful idea" for Princeton Borough, which has considered adding the service, said Princeton Borough Police Chief Charles Davall.
"It’s still possible we may buy our own system but I want to find out what the county is going to do," he said.
Princeton Township purchased an automated system several years ago, but the borough elected not to participate due to questions about how the service would be controlled, said Chief Davall.
Those issues, plus the costs of the county program, must be studied, he said.
The total tax levy applied to the county’s 13 municipalities would increase from $159.4 million in 2003 to $170.0 million this year, an increase of 6.7 percent under the proposed spending plan.
Only Trenton’s tax rate would actually go down, by one cent, to 59 cents per $100 of assessed valuation, under the formula used to apply the tax burden to the county municipalities.
Princeton Borough’s rate would increase eight cents to 92 cents per $100 of assessed value. For Princeton Township residents, the rate would increase by four cents to 85 cents per $100 of assessed value.
In West Windsor, the rate would jump by two cents to 85 cents per $100 of assessed value.
The county uses an equalized assessment that adjusts the municipalities’ rates when property assessments lag behind the actual values of the residences.