Amazon deal adds to township coffers
By Charley Falkenburg, Packet Media Group
Budget plan
would cut
local taxes
Amazon deal adds to
Robbinsville coffers
Charley FalkenburgPacket Media Group
ROBBINSVILLE On Valentine’s Day, Mayor David Fried is giving the Township Council a gift it might like better than a heart-shaped box of candy a proposed budget with a two-penny tax cut.
Mayor Fried will present a $21.9 million 2013-2014 fiscal year budget to the Township Council at its meeting tonight, Feb. 14. Under the proposed budget, taxpayers would get a 2-cent cut in the municipal tax rate that would save them approximately $76 in their municipal tax bills.
The decrease would bring the municipal tax rate to 52.2 cents per $100 of assessed home value. This means owners of homes assessed at $381,000 would pay $1,981 in municipal taxes. Residents haven’t seen a tax cut since 2007 when the township took over the fire district, marking the 2013 budget as a second major victory for Mayor Fried.
The first major triumph was landing the multi-million dollar deal with Amazon.com in January, which played a major role in giving taxpayers a break this year. Because the 22-acre farmland will be converted to commercial property, the township was able to get $650,000 in rollback taxes. Under state law, once farmland converts to commercial property, the township can collect three years’ worth of taxes based on what the land would have been assessed at had it always been a commercial property.
”Usually when governments have windfalls like this, they find ways to spend it we wanted residents to have tax relief,” said Mayor Fried on Wednesday. “Being able to win something (Amazon.com) like this is a really big deal; to return more than $20 million over the next 20 years is a big deal for taxpayers.”
Mayor Fried’s 2013 budget appears to be testimony for what he said is his number one goal: creating tax stability.
”We used to have the fastest growing tax rate in Mercer County and now we have one of the most stable tax rates,” he added.
The proposed budget also includes a $500,000 reduction in long-term debt. The mayor named debt reduction as his second goal so the township could eventually spend more money on services.
This year, Mayor Fried said residents could expect a greater level of service and a couple of pending new projects. Although he couldn’t reveal what deals he has in the works, did say he is working on two “well named companies.”
”We have two new really credible companies we’re talking to now and I am optimistic we will be able to announce something in the near future,” he said.

