Taxes to reflect new revaluation
By: Emily Craighead
WEST WINDSOR The Township Council voted unanimously Monday to introduce a $31.4 million municipal budget for 2006.
Council members also introduced an ordinance to exceed by 1 percent or $168,756 the 2.5 percent spending increase limit. The ordinance would authorize the township to bank that amount toward the 2007 or 2008 municipal budget.
The municipal tax rate is set at 27 cents per $100 of assessed value, a precipitous drop from last year’s 59-cent tax rate before the township-wide property revaluation.
"There’s been a lot of work on this," Council President Charlie Morgan said.
The owner of a home assessed at the township average of $575,200 would pay $1,553 in municipal taxes. Last year the owner of a home assessed at the old average of $239,500 paid $1,413 in municipal taxes. Property values in the township increased nearly 2½ times since the last revaluation in 1993.
The total tax rate in West Windsor including municipal, school, county and open-space taxes was $4.62 per $100 of assessed value last year, putting taxes at $10,202 for the owner of a home assessed at the township average. This year, with an estimated tax rate of $1.92 per $100 of assessed value, the owner of a home assessed at the new average would pay $11,943.
Several adjustments were made to the preliminary budget, including trimming funds set aside for overtime in several departments while adding $3,000 for zoning board legal expenses and $8,100 for expenses in the Public Works Department.
Since the proposed budget was presented, the township has been awarded a $23,000 Clean Communities grant, a $20,000 Smart Future Planning grant and a $22,000 grant for enhanced 911 general assistance, which have been added to the budget.
In human services, an 11 percent increase is proposed to fund senior-citizen programming, setting the senior center budget at $160,000 for 2006.
Money allocated for legal expenses is up 3 percent, to $303,000. Administrative and executive costs are down 9 percent at $493,919, with decreased spending on conferences and seminars, office furniture and equipment, travel expenses and computer services.
Costs for the financial administration of the township, driven by salary and wage increases, are up 9 percent, at $575,000.
Although joint services agreements with neighboring municipalities have been one way the township has sought to trim the budget, Business Administrator Christopher Marion said in an earlier interview that the township must examine its own operations.
Many of the budget costs that have increased are fixed costs, according to Mr. Marion. The most significant increases are dictated by contracts and include costs for police up $283,281, or 5.6 percent; group insurance up $127,200, or 4.4 percent; and garbage removal up $143,000, or 6.7 percent.
A presentation and public hearing on the budget are scheduled for June 26.
The township’s open-space tax will be the subject of discussion at the council’s June 5 meeting, Mr. Morgan said. Anticipating the revaluation’s impact, last November the council put a referendum before voters to lower the open-space tax from 7 cents per $100 of assessed value to 5 cents.
A possible referendum this November would ask voters if they want to decrease the tax further.

