Details delay adoption of 2006 Princeton Borough budget

$22.9 million spending plan set back by $70,000 in required adjustments

By: Kara Fitzpatrick
   The public hearing and adoption of the Princeton Borough municipal budget has been delayed until June 7, due to approximately $70,000 in adjustments required in the $22.9 million spending plan, Borough Administrator Robert Bruschi said.
   The changes — a result of various complications during the joint budget process between the Princeton Borough Council and Princeton Township Committee — will be addressed by the borough’s Finance Committee prior to next month’s public hearing and adoption, Mr. Bruschi said.
   "We can amend that night and adopt that evening," Mr. Bruschi said at Tuesday’s Borough Council meeting.
   Mr. Bruschi said the budget that will be up for adoption next month could be different from the spending plan introduced by the council in March.
   The introduced plan proposed a 5-cent tax increase — to 94 cents per $100 of assessed property value. Under the introduced budget, the owner of a home assessed at the borough average of $350,000 would pay $3,290 in municipal taxes, up $175 from last year.
   But factors that have surfaced since the introduction — with regard to the budgets of the Princeton Public Library and Health Department — require changes to the spending plan, Mr. Bruschi said, adding that it is unknown if the monies will be extracted from existing line items or become additions to the introduced budget.
   The introduced budget represents a spending hike of almost $1 million, an increase that includes increased garbage and sewer costs as well as additional department funding.
   According to officials, the introduced budget moves the borough closer to its goal of a 5 percent surplus, calling for using $1.2 million of the surplus and maintaining nearly $700,000 — a 3 percent reserve.