The Township Council unanimously voted Monday night to introduce a budget that would keep the tax rate the same as last year.
By Jennifer Kohlhepp, Staff Writer
WEST WINDSOR — The Township Council unanimously voted Monday night to introduce a budget that would keep the tax rate the same as last year.
Last year’s tax rate amounted to 38 cents per $100 of assessed value. The total assessed valuation for 2014 has not been certified yet. Information regarding total assessed valuation, the value of the average household and the affect on the municipal tax rate will be made available after the tax assessor has completed the certification.
Resident Alison Miller noted how hard the Township Council and administration worked on the budget and said she was extremely delighted with the results.
”You are all to be praised for doing your hard work,” Ms. Miller said.
The council relied on using $185,529 in surplus to adjust the property tax levy to $22.7 million, which would keep the tax rate flat.
”I think we’ve done a good job and we’ll see where it goes from here,” Councilman George Borek said.
He and Councilwoman Kristina Samonte were a little wary about reducing the surplus this year to keep the tax rate flat.
”While we were able to maintain the tax rate this year it could not bode well for the future,” Councilwoman Samonte said.
Council President Bryan Maher said the budget is up over last year but the tax levy is flat. He said the town has $6.6 million in surplus and that the amount the council used to not have a tax rate increase was small.
He expects police department revenue to increase this year due to five new officers who were hired last year. He estimated that police fees would make up for $100,000 of the used surplus and said tapping into $85,000 out of the $6.6 million was a bipartisan venture that the council found very palatable.
The council will be monitoring quarterly budget reports to see how tapping into the surplus plays out.
Mr. Maher also said the township currently has $10 to $12 million of funded projects “sitting around” that it has to review. He said some of those projects may not be necessary anymore and that the township may be able to use the funding elsewhere.
Resident John Church thanked the council for its hard work on the proposed budget.
”Budgeting a household is difficult enough, let alone an entire township,” Mr. Church said.
He continued, “I look forward to the public hearing and the zero percent increase.”
The Township Council also unanimously voted to introduce an ordinance that would allow the township to bank money to use in either next year’s or the following year’s budget.
The Local Government Cap Law states that municipalities must limit any increase in their annual budgets to .5 percent unless they pass an ordinance to increase it to 3.5 percent over the previous year’s final appropriations.
The ordinance would allow the governing body to appropriate the difference between the amount of its actual final appropriation and the 3.5 percentage rate as an exception to its final appropriations in either of the next two succeeding years.
The 3 percent increase in the budget would amount to $782,226 in excess of the increase in final appropriations and any amount of that not appropriated as part of the final budget in 2014 could be retained as an exception to final appropriation in either 2015 or 2016.
The township’s CFO Joanne Louth recommended the township introduce the ordinance.
”It’s better to have it in place if need be,” Ms. Louth said. “It doesn’t add anything to the tax rate.”
The public hearing on the ordinance and the proposed budget will take place at the April 28 meeting of the Township Council, which will begin at 7 p.m. in the municipal building.

