Taxes to rise in West Windsor, fall slightly in Plainsboro
By: Nick Norlen
PLAINSBORO Despite a 4.3-percent increase, the 2007 West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District budget was passed without a single public comment Tuesday.
The Board of Education voted 9-0 to adopt the budget in the amount of $147,155,853 an increase of $6.1 million from 2006.
The budget increase will affect residents of the district’s two townships differently. Based on equalized valuation, West Windsor’s tax levy is estimated at $75,680,000, which translates to a rate of $1.20 per $100 of assessed valuation up from $1.14 last year.
Plainsboro’s tax levy is calculated to be $52,961,000, resulting in a rate reduction from $1.45 to $1.44.
In terms of the budget breakdown, the largest expense, 31 percent, is allocated for general instruction. Employee benefits and special instruction are the second and third highest costs, coming in at 15.9 and 14.4 percent, respectively.
Board member and Finance Committee Chairman Stan Katz said he wasn’t surprised by the lack of comment or expressions of concern at the budget hearing.
"It’s not going to be surprising that there are very few people that are going to get up and comment on this budget," he said. "This is the best budget that I’ve seen in years and years."
Mr. Katz said no red flags were raised during the Finance Committee’s evaluation of the budget.
He added, "Traditionally, this is the final time that the Finance Committee looks at the budget before it’s presented and says, ‘This number just will not fly, this number is way off the charts, this number needs to be adjusted.’ It was the calmest Finance Committee meeting that we’ve had in the 11 years that I’ve been on the board. This is the most non-controversial budget that I can imagine."
Board President Hemant Marathe agreed.
"This is really a good budget. Looking at the communities around us, everybody is running into some problem or the other. And we have managed to stay out of trouble, mainly because of the leadership and planning that has gone on for a number of years, not just starting in January," he said.
At the April 17 election, district residents will vote on the budget, as well as school board candidates and a ballot question proposing a change from a taxation method based on equalized valuation to one based on the number of pupils enrolled in each township.

