By Doug Carman, Staff Writer
EAST WINDSOR A proposed 2011 municipal budget that would result in a $39 tax increase for the average township homeowner was introduced by the Township Council on Tuesday.
Approved by an unanimous 6-0 vote with no discussion that evening, what Mayor Janice Mironov previously described as a $20.2 million “maintenance budget” with no additional or reduced staffing or services will still need another approval April 26.
The budget calls for a municipal tax rate increase of 1.49 cents, to 39.79 cents per $100 of assessed property value. The owner of a home assessed at the township average of $264,000 would see a municipal tax bill of about $1,050, an increase of $39 from last year.
Property taxes are expected to support $11.3 million of East Windsor’s budget.
The budget grew approximately 2 percent from last year. Much of the increased spending came from employee pensions, which are exempt from the state’s new 2-percent cap on tax levy increases.
The budget expenses include payments to a police and firefighter retirement system, which climbed from about $1.01 million to $1.48 million. The township’s contribution to a second fund for other public employees also grew from about $321,000 to $460,000.
The budget also included several incremental increases in wages and salaries, coinciding with votes earlier this year to implement a 1.5-percent wage increase for police officers and public works employees.
Cuts included a 26 percent cut in training expenses for the East Windsor Police Department, from about $128,000 to about $95,000. Mayor Mironov said that cut represents an agreed-upon benefit reduction in tuition reimbursements for the department’s officers.

