To the editor:
During this year’s budget cycle, under my leadership, the Township Committee conducted 14 public budget meetings. That represented more than twice as many budget meetings than were conducted during the previous year as well as more budget meetings than 2013 and 2014 combined.
During those budget meetings, both committee members and the public had an opportunity to fully express themselves. Like zero-based budgeting, every dollar was subject to scrutiny by all.
Although Hopewell Township has the lowest municipal tax rate in Mercer County, debt proved to be a drag on our budget this year. For years, previous township committees kicked the debt can down the road by spending money that we did not have, and failing to responsibly plan for our future.
By 2014, we had put $49 million in bonds to be paid off by future committees. For example, when the 2008 Township Committee bought Pennytown for $6.5 million and our affordable housing trust fund ran out of money, that obligation became part of general debt for future township committees to be stuck with. When we had a fire this year that destroyed every public works vehicle, those obligations combined to cause our spending to spike.
Despite these challenges, in 2015, Wall Street gave Hopewell Township a testament to our money management skills when the bond rating agency, Standard and Poor’s, gave Hopewell Township its highest rating of AAA. That highest bond rating put Hopewell Township in an exclusive club of only 18 New Jersey municipalities with a bond rating of AAA.
Vote for experience and proven leadership.
On Tuesday, Nov. 3, re-elect Harvey Lester to the Hopewell Township Committee.
Harvey Lester
Republican candidate
for Hopewell Township Committee
Mr. Lester is mayor of Hopewell Township and a member of the Township Committee.
