By: centraljersey.com
PLAINSBORO – With a preliminary budget of about $24 million, residents can expect a tax rate increase of 75 cents.
Township Administrator Bob Sheehan said the budget rose by 3.7 percent from last year – less than a million dollars – with state cap exceptions for employee pension and health care costs.
"This reflects the challenges of our time," he said. "These costs are difficult to contain and they play out on the expense and revenue side, but we’re well equipped to meet these challenges."
Mr. Sheehan said the township was able to create a stable budget this year due to the triple A bond rating and cost containment through shared service, staff reductions and conservative spending.
The tax rate is equivalent to about $29 based on the average home value of $389,000.
"The fact the tax rate is rising by less than a penny is remarkable in this economy and is a real tribute to our staff," Mayor Cantu said.
The budget will use $4 million in surplus and $1.6 million in state aid, which remained flat from the previous year. It is also the first year the budget benefits from a $300,000 payment in lieu of taxes from the Merwick Care and Rehabilitation Center, which opened earlier this year.
Three staff changes were made – a full time purchasing officer was changed to part time, an IT coordinator in the police department will be replaced with a consultant service, and a full-time plumbing subcode official was laid off – yielding a savings of about $275,000.
But the police department will also hire three new officers by July 1 because it has been operating with only 32 of the 35 officers of its authorized force level.
The budget will be on the agenda for public hearing at the March 23 meeting.

