Cranbury navigated the Great Recession that hit the nation 10 years ago through a series of steps that township officials, past and present, took to trim spending and reduce debt to put the township on solid financial footing, a township official said on Sept. 24.
Committeeman Jay Taylor shared at the Township Committee meeting how officials, in 2009 and 2010, found themselves staring at a “pretty big financial cliff” with government spending and debt at “all-time” highs. At the same time, there was no “major growth” in Cranbury in terms of new tax ratables from 2009 to 2015.
“We were in a situation where the property tax base was continuing to decline with no new income coming through,” he said.
Officials, Taylor continued, analyzed the municipal budget line item by line item, down to postage and stationery.
“We were counting pens in the office,” he said.
“We scrutinize spending at a very micro level,” Committeeman Daniel P. Mulligan III said.
Taylor shared financial data, from then and now, as part of his presentation. In 2007, the township’s operating budget stood at $12.2 million, compared to $11.8 million in 2018, while debt was $29 million in 2007 and is $19 million this year.
“What town can say they have reduced debt over the last amount of years?” Mulligan said. “Look at our federal government, look at our state government, look at our county government, look at the towns around us and the amount of debt they are taking on.”
When it came to the municipal workforce, the township “implemented healthcare contributions,” among other steps, Taylor said.
Taylor sought to hold Cranbury up as an example of how a town can manage its finances at a time when state officials are saying municipal consolidation is “good for towns.”
“This is a very a clear message to the Legislature that if we leave it to our own devices and we operate in a prudent manner, towns like Cranbury cannot only avoid consolidation, but can be a model for financial management for the rest of the state,” he said. “If Jersey City, Newark and other towns did what we were doing, we would be in a much better financial position.”
Mulligan pointed to Princeton, where the former Princeton Borough and Princeton Township became one community starting in 2013. He said taxpayers there are paying more than they did before the merger.
“Consolidation doesn’t work,” Mulligan said. “It’s about how the town where you have good leaders, leaders who are thinking about the bigger picture than small micro agendas.”