By Greg Forester, Staff Writer
The West Windsor-Plainsboro Board of Education has unanimously adopted a $153.5 million school budget, sending the spending plan to voters in the two townships for an April 15 vote.
The budget, approved by the board on Tuesday, represents an overall 4.3-percent increase over last year’s model, although district officials stressed that the tax levy increase is less, at around 3.5 percent.
”For the past six years we have managed to have very modest increases, despite growth in enrollment,” said district spokeswoman Gerri Hutner.
The adopted budget also carries tax impacts on the two townships that are less severe than initially thought, with West Windsor residents seeing a reduced tax increase and Plainsboro residents getting an even larger tax break.
Original projections had West Windsor residents with a home assessed at the average value of $556,973 facing a total tax bill increase of $517.
But the budget adopted Tuesday means West Windsor residents will see an overall 4.3 percent increase, calling for a tax rate hike of a little over 5 cents to $1.25 per $100 of assessed value.
That translates to a total tax bill increase of $289, bringing school taxes to $6,962 per year for a residence assessed at the average value.
In Plainsboro, the original projections had the average Plainsboro homeowner — with a residence assessed at $397,720 — seeing a decrease in the total tax bill of $159, but that changed, too.
Tuesday’s budget means a total 6-percent decrease, and a greater decrease in tax bills in Plainsboro to a total of $5,369, for the average residence.
Plainsboro residents will now save on average about $342 more than the last year’s numbers, with a tax rate drop of more than 8 cents down to $1.35 per $100 of assessed value.
The original numbers had been based on a preliminary budget, in which the district used estimated numbers for property values, according to the district’s comptroller, Larry LoCastro.
Tuesday’s budget meeting was very lightly attended, with only about six residents in the audience.
Also, the Board of Education’s public announcement system was malfunctioning, making it extremely difficult for audience members to hear what was being said during the budget presentation.
”It is unfortunate that we are conducting a public meeting where our words cannot be heard by everyone,” said West Windsor resident Pete Weale.
During the presentation, it was pointed out that this would be the final budget in which the share of tax levy between the two townships would be based upon property values.
Next year the district will switch to a system based upon the number of pupils in each township.
Those numbers have remained much more stable than the value-based system, where each township tended to see consecutive years of increases or decreases, according to the district’s assistant superintendent for finance, Larry Shanok.
This year’s budget saw sharp increases in fuel costs, along with contractual increases in wages and salaries. District officials also tied pension and health care cost increases to problems in the state government’s pension system, which they called “underfunded.”
