West Windsor preliminary municipal budget shows 3-cent tax hike

Average municipal tax hike would be $72 under current assessment.

By: Jill Matthews
   WEST WINDSOR — The township administration released a preliminary municipal budget Tuesday that would require a 3-cent increase in the tax rate.
   The $28.99 million proposed budget represents a 4-percent spending increase over last year’s $27.9 million budget.
   It would result in a municipal tax rate of 59 cents per $100 of assessed property value, a 3-cent jump from last year’s 56 cents, or an increase of 5.4 percent.
   For the average home in West Windsor assessed in 2004 at $239,600, the tax for municipal purposes would be $1,414, a $72 increase over last year’s $1,342. The 2005 assessed value of the average home in West Windsor has not yet been calculated but is expected to be released early next week.
   Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh attributed the proposed $1 million spending hike to increases in contractual salary obligations, health insurance and pension increases for employees and one-fifth of the cost of the county-mandated townshipwide property revaluation.
   The preliminary budget, released almost a month earlier than last year’s budget, will likely see changes as it is reviewed by the Township Council, which received copies Tuesday evening.
   Councilwoman Kristin Appleget said following her initial review of the budget that it reflected the good planning the township has done over the past few years. "We are starting to have a little bit of a slowdown in the acceleration of the tax rate," she said, noting many area municipalities are facing much larger increases than is being proposed in West Windsor.
   Councilwoman Alison Miller said she could not say if the spending plan was the "greatest budget in the world" or the "worst budget in the world," because she had not reviewed it in detail. But some of what she has reviewed has raised questions, she added.
   In Councilman Charlie Morgan’s view, "Three cents (increase in taxes) is a lot better than the nine cents that Lawrence is dealing with." He said a three-cent increase was not surprising, given that one of the township’s major expenses is union-related salary increases. Mr. Morgan said he would support the administration where it needed to go with the budget but will also examine the budget in more detail, something he has not had a chance to do yet.
   A public copy of the budget was made available in the township clerk’s office Wednesday. The first public presentation of the budget by the township administration is expected at the next council meeting, which is set for Jan. 31.
   Changes in the budget may also be made as the township receives more definitive numbers on its expected revenues, the mayor said.
   "We proposed this so early, at the end of the month we will have inventory of all of the tax revenues, so we might have new numbers," said Mayor Hsueh. The $3.1 million in expected state aid is based on last’s year state aid numbers and could change once the state releases its new numbers, he said.
   The proposed budget includes $15.6 million in revenues raised by taxation, $3.5 million from the township’s surplus, $3.1 million from state aid, and $6.6 million in miscellaneous revenue, which includes sewer services charges, the hotel occupancy tax and uniform construction code fees, among other things.
   After the $3.5 million from the township’s surplus is appropriated to the budget, $1.4 million will be left in the surplus.
   "What is really important here is the long-term financial system," said Mayor Hsueh. The township has seen an increase in its surplus for the past three years, which will assure the township will avoid future spikes in the tax rate, he said. Mayor Hsueh also estimated that after this year, tax increases will amount to only one or two cents.
   Among anticipated expenditures, $10.2 million has been set aside for salaries and wages; $12.7 million for other expenses, which mostly includes operational expenses for the township; $4.1 million for debt services and a $1.6 million reserve for uncollected taxes, among other things.