Dan Haughton, Princeton
When I ran for the Princeton Township school board seat last year, two key issues of my platform were to maintain the excellent quality of the Princeton Regional Schools that we’ve all come to expect, and to promote fiscal responsibility and good stewardship of public funds.
While we faced the worst economic crisis in decades during this year’s budget process, the PRS board unanimously approved a budget that promotes both these goals. The overall operating budget increase is less than 1 percent, well below the state-mandated cap of 4 percent. This translates into an actual tax increase of only $29 for the average home in the township with an assessed value of $434,000.
Without contractual agreements for salary and benefits and other state mandates, the budget that the board controls is actually down nearly 2 percent from last year. We cut $1.3 million in expenses with no elimination of any academic, sports, or fine arts programs.
Despite a conservative budget for these tough economic times, approval at the April 21 election is no sure bet. A community-wide commitment to outstanding education is what differentiates Princeton from other communities, and I ask all voters to help maintain the high quality of our schools by voting “Yes” for the school budget on April 21.
Dan Haughton
PRS Board Member, 2008-2011

