Borough Council to get first glimpse of budget

Department heads seek nearly $1.9 million increase in spending

By: Marjorie Censer
   The Princeton Borough Council will get a first glimpse tonight of a preliminary 2006 budget, which includes the requests of department heads in full and represents a nearly $1.9 million increase over the 2005 budget. The council is not expected to discuss the budget or take action.
   Borough Administrator Robert Bruschi said the budget he will present to the council has not been trimmed and indicates the budget requests of department heads. The areas that show major increases are the Princeton Public Library, the Princeton Regional Health Department, pensions, the Stony Brook Regional Sewerage Authority and stormwater regulation implementation, Mr. Bruschi noted in a memorandum to the council.
   For example, the library allocation is proposed at nearly $1.2 million, up from roughly $990,000 in 2005, and the Health Department has requested more than $113,000 for the Board of Health alone, up from approximately $44,000 in 2005.
   Mr. Bruschi said he left the department requests intact to give the council a chance to see those numbers. But he added he expects the budget to be significantly trimmed. If the preliminary budget were adopted as presented, he noted in his memo, it would require a roughly $900,000 increase in tax revenue.
   He said he expects the overall budget increase to be roughly half of the almost $1.9 million included in the preliminary budget. However, he explained, he and the council will have better estimates in January.
   In his report to the council, Mr. Bruschi also will update the members about the 2005 budget. He said the borough is on track to meet or potentially exceed anticipated revenue. Some revenues, such as alcoholic beverage licenses and fire inspection and housing fees, have surpassed the expected figures because of rate increases.
   Increased revenue would help the borough maintain a surplus. Mr. Bruschi said he would like a sum equal to 5 percent of the borough’s operating budget to be kept in surplus.
   In other business, the council is expected to approve an ordinance that would help the borough cope with its new affordable-housing regulations. The ordinance, if passed, would shift the affordable-housing obligation for nonresidential development to builders. Under the new state Council on Affordable Housing regulations, developers of nonresidential properties are not required to provide an affordable-housing component, though their buildings create an affordable-housing obligation for the borough.
   The council will also see an adjusted "pro forma" — the charge to be levied on developers who opt to pay for affordable-housing units in lieu of building them. Shirley Bishop, the borough’s affordable-housing consultant, has submitted a memorandum to the council that indicates an estimate of roughly $467,000 for the average cost of providing an affordable unit in the borough — nearly $400,000 for the cost of the unit plus more than $68,000 for the cost of rehabilitation.
   In addition, Barbara Trelstad — appointed to the council at last week’s meeting — will take the oath of office at tonight’s meeting.