By Greg Forester, Staff Writer
A proposed 2008-2009 budget for West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District would mean a tax increase for West Windsor residents and a decrease for Plainsboro residents.
Under the proposed $153.5 million budget — released Wednesday by the Board of Education’s finance committee — West Windsor residents face a tax rate increase of 5.2 cents to $1.25 per $100 of assessed value. Those numbers mean residents with a home assessed at the township average of $556,973 would see a tax increase of $289.63.
In Plainsboro Township, a homeowners with a residence at the average assessed value of $397,720 would see their tax rate decrease by 8.6 cents to $1.35 per $100 of assessed value, resulting in a tax decrease of $342.04 under the proposed budget.
Around 62 percent of assessed value in the district is in West Windsor Township, with the remaining 38 percent in Plainsboro Township, although that statistic will become irrelevant to the school budget process after this year.
The Board of Education will switch to a process that school officials say will result in less fluctuation. The new system is based on the number of pupils residing in each township. It was approved by voters last year, and was eventually instituted by each municipal government.
”Again we are seeing the fact that equalized valuation seems to vary a lot each year,” said Larry Shanok, assistant superintendent for finance. “This new split seems much more stable and that’s why we brought up the question.”
In terms of the total school budget, the proposal means an overall increase of 4.3 percent over last year’s budget, school officials said. The total local tax levy increase is pegged at 3.4 percent, to $132.6 million with Plainsboro’s residents shelling out $51.8 million. West Windsor’s levy would total $80.8 million.
The total budget’s 4.3-percent increase — which includes capital funds and other items not included in the operating budget — is in line with the increases of the last six years, according to district officials, who said they try to keep increases near that 4 percent level as consistently as possible.
Many categories of expenditure are slated to increase or decrease, but district officials have highlighted transportation costs as one area that saw an abnormally large jump. The preliminary budget projects a nearly 10-percent increase in transportation costs over last year’s numbers. That resulted mostly from the increase in fuel prices, district officials said.
This year’s budget increase was necessary in the face of rising enrollment, the hiring of additional teachers, and inflation, according to district spokeswoman Gerri Hutner.
The proposed budget is likely to be accepted by the rest of the Board of Education at a meeting on March 25, Mr. Shanok said.
”Our finance committee has been pretty persuasive in carrying the rest of the board,” Mr. Shanok said.
Money left over from the previous budget will be dedicated to property tax relief, according to Mr. Shanok, who said that the district continues to maintain a per-pupil cost at or near the state average, while providing a superior education.
”It is an excellent education at a moderate cost,” Mr. Shanok said.
