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PRINCETON: Officials, governor disagree on numbers

By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
   Mayor Liz Lempert and the Princeton Council issued a joint response Monday correcting what they characterized as misstatements about consolidation-related savings that Gov. Chris Christie had made in a March 1 letter to the community.
   The two offending sentences, coming after the governor first issued his congratulations for “the successful merger,” were contained in the second paragraph:
   ”In fact, your first-year taxpayer savings from the merger are now expected to exceed $2.8 million, over $1 million more than originally anticipated. This means that property tax savings for homeowners could be as high as 10 percent,” the letter read.
   The letter prompted enough community feedback for officials to respond in writing with a letter to the editor. (See TOWN FORUM, Page 6A.)
   Mayor Liz Lempert, having been in touch with the governor’s office twice since Friday on the issue, said Monday that the savings figure — pegged at anywhere from $2.5 million to $2.9 million based on what the towns would have spent had they remained apart — is not a “net” number. In their letter, officials said the savings “are not a net reduction to the total municipal budget as they are offset and adjusted by several budget and tax impacts.”
   As for the property tax savings, she said the town makes up about 20 to 25 percent of the overall property tax bill; the school district and the county make up the rest. So for the municipality on its own to cut property taxes by 10 percent, she said it would require cutting the municipal budget by 65 percent. Councilwoman Jo S. Butler said Monday that the governor’s 10-percent figure was “out of left field,” and something the municipality “can’t possibly do.”
   ”I think that we all felt it was important to correct the mistaken statements by the governor in the letter,” Councilwoman Jenny Crumiller said Monday. “It would be a shame for people to feel disappointed when they didn’t get a 10-percent decrease in their property taxes.”
   From conversations she had with the governor’s office, Mayor Lempert said the information in the letter came from a story in another newspaper.
   In its response, the Christie administration said its source was an interview with Transition Task Force Vice Chairman Scott Sillars, in a Times of Trenton tory.
   ”Additionally, while the argument may be made that these are ‘net’ savings in the first year, they are also permanent savings, not-one time savings,” said Sean Conner, a spokesman for the governor, in an email Monday. “The savings remain year after year, even as the merger-related expenses are paid. And yes, these are savings to the municipal government which could be as high as 10 percent of the municipal property tax levy — that’s clear from our sourcing as well,”
   In their letter, Princeton officials said they wanted to make clear “that a 10-percent property tax reduction is simply not achievable. The municipal portion of our property taxes is too small for any reduction from consolidation to have that great of an impact on our overall property tax bill.”
   This contretemps comes with the town and the Christie administration trying to agree on how much the state will reimburse the town for its transition-related costs. The governor pledged to provide 20 percent, although it is not known yet what the final figure will be. For its part, the town is seeking $471,119.
   ”I am sure the transition has, and will, take some time to get used to, and there may be bumps in the road as the process continues, but by making the decision to consolidate municipalities and share services after years of hard work, consideration and open discussions, you and your neighbors have streamlined your local government and achieved significant savings,” the governor wrote.
   Mr. Christie, a Republican, is seeking re-election to a second term this November. Mayor Lempert, a Democrat, said she is backing her party’s challenger state Sen. Barbara Buono, D-18.