Princetons’ shared-services budgets OK’d

Spending in nine of the 15 departments will decline.

By: David Campbell
   The governing bodies of Princeton Borough and Princeton Township approved their joint budgets for shared services Tuesday night, the administrators for both municipalities confirmed Wednesday.
   The total for all agencies jointly funded by the borough and township that the governing bodies approved Tuesday night was $7.49 million.
   Borough Administrator Robert Bruschi said all 2005 budgets for the 15 joint services were approved as recommended by department heads, except for a $76,000 increase in the Sewer Operating Committee’s solid-waste budget to cover enhanced street sweeping to comply with new state stormwater regulations.
   Budgets for nine of the 15 shared services are down from last year’s levels. The services seeing increases are solid waste, the Environmental Commission, First Aid & Rescue Squad, Human Services, Planning Board and the Recreation Department.
   Township Administrator James Pascale said this week that the $1.1 million recreation budget is up $78,936 due to new park-maintenance activities. He said the $169,643 first-aid budget is up $11,104 due to salary and per-diem adjustments. The $6,049 Environmental Commission budget is up $965 from last year due to salary and wages. The $221,862 Human Services budget is up $3,689 due largely to salary and wages as well. The $316,844 Planning Board budget is up $12,240 due to salaries and an across-the-board increase in insurance, according to a memorandum prepared by the administrators.
   But the rest of the joint budgets are down from 2004 levels. For example, the $73,575 budget for animal control is down $6,362 from last year — the result of the borough changing insurance providers, according to the memo. Similarly, the $386,028 budget for the Health Department, the $90,200 fire-facilities budget, and the $50,043 cable-television budget are all down.
   The library budget this year is about $3.1 million, down $70,368 from 2004. Unlike last year, the 2005 library spending plan does not include an allocation to cover subsidized free parking at the borough’s municipal garage for library patrons.
   The borough and township are now working on a new cost-sharing agreement to cover the parking. Borough Mayor Joseph O’Neill said at the Borough Council meeting that followed the joint budget session Tuesday night that a resolution outlining a possible new plan has been passed to the Township Committee for review and could be taken up at the council’s next regularly scheduled meeting.
   Under last year’s arrangement, which covered up to two hours of subsidized free parking, the cost-share split was derived from a formula for joint services that determines fair share based on total property-tax ratables in the two towns, of which about 69 percent is in the township.
   Under a new plan proposed earlier this week, the cost would be split 50-50 by the two municipalities and would cover up to one hour of free parking.
   Mr. Pascale said library parking was not discussed at the joint budgetary meeting on Tuesday.