By Katie Wagner, Staff Writer
Voters in the Princeton Regional School District overwhelmingly approved a $72.7 million budget for 2008-2009 on Tuesday.
Overall, the budget passed, 1,426 to 727. However, the result was closer in the borough, where residents cast 331 “yes” votes and 259 “no” votes. In contrast, the budget carried by a three-to-one margin in the township, 1,563 to 468.
Township residents will see a 1.03-cent decrease in the their tax rate from last year. Borough residents, however, will pay 9.5 cents more for every $100 of assessed value of their homes than they did last year.
In the township race for two three-year seats, incumbent Walter Bliss and newcomer Dan Haughton were elected with 1,021 and 792 votes respectively. Defeated in her bid for a seat was Naomi Perlman with 696 votes.
There was no contest for the open seat in the borough. Tim Quinn, unopposed, received 430 votes.
The budget’s approval was a relief for the district’s administrators and school board, who saw a proposed $76.1 million budget go down to defeat, 913 to 870, last year. It was the district’s first such rejection since 1991. The township committee and borough council ultimately cut $1.05 million from the budget in late May.
After Tuesday’s budget approval, Superintendent Judy Wilson said: “We were especially pleased by the 2-1 approval of the budget and the fact that it passed by a good margin in the borough. We had about 350 more people go to the polls than last year and we really pushed hard to get people to the polls so we were pleased by that also.”
The budget will impose a 3.32-percent total tax increase from last year, with the school district’s taxpayers being asked to cover $56,965,650 of the budget.
Township residents will pay $1.6997 per $100 of assessed value, which would equate to a school tax bill of approximately $7,329 for a resident living in a home with the township’s average assessed value — $431,207. Borough residents will pay $1.965 per $100 of assessed value, which would require homeowners with houses assessed at $349,953 — the average assessed home value in the borough — to pay about $6,876 in school taxes.
