PRINCETON: New budget expected to be down $4 million

By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
   A roughly $60 million municipal budget is on track to be introduced early next month, the first spending plan for the consolidated Princeton.
   The town is due to spend about $4 million less than what the borough and the township spent combined in 2013.
   Mayor Liz Lempert said officials are working toward having no municipal tax increase.
   ”That’s still the plan,” said Mayor Lempert, who made a campaign promise last fall that there would be no hike. Officials learned last week that the total ratable base — meaning the assessed value of taxable real estate in town — went down by $34 million due to various factors including tax appeals, tear downs, consolidation and from the compliance plan that the municipal tax assessor’s office had to do.
   ”We have to account for that,” said Ms. Lempert in adding the town will need to find “efficiencies” to avoid a hike. Municipal taxes make up about 25 percent of the overall property tax bill.
   Kathryn Monzo, the assistant administrator and director of finance, said last week there were “no sharp” spending increases. The town did add this year the cost of municipal trash pickup for the former township residents. She also pointed to some increases in pension costs, but the town is saving money in employee benefits thanks to a switch in health care plans and employee contributions.
   ”It’s looking really good,” Ms. Monzo said.
   On Wednesday, the Christie administration announced state aid figures for municipalities. Princeton is due to receive just under $2.2 million; the number does not include the partial reimbursement of transition costs the state has promised to deliver. The town is seeking $460,000.
   Ms. Monzo said the budget is due to be introduced at the April 1 council meeting. The town will have a budget presentation that night, Ms. Lempert said.
   By way of comparison to this year and last, the borough and the township combined spent around $64 million in 2012. Last year, the final year of the two Princetons being separate, the borough had a $26.49 million budget and the township had $37.48 million budget, Ms. Monzo said.