Plainsboro officials have gone further in trying to whittle down the burden for township residents when it comes to taxes this year.##M:[more]##
In addition to approving an application to the state Local Finance Board to permit the township to defer its state-mandated pension costs until 2012, the administration has also cut the tax rate down on the budget.
Township Administrator Robert Sheehan reported to the Township Committee on April 7 that the proposed $21.97 million budget, which represents a 5.7 increase over last year, will no longer call for a 3.26-cent tax increase. Now, the tax increase is proposed to be 1.9 cents.
“That was done, I think responsibly without having an impact to the services we offer to our residents,” Mayor Peter Cantu said.
Sheehan said that township officials were able to anticipate additional revenues in 2009 up to the amount of revenue the township actually received in 2008. “The first time around, we were conservative in how we anticipated the revenue,” Sheehan said, adding that the 2008 amount serves as this year’s cap.
On the expense side, officials did more calculations with the budget and were able to realize additional savings, including relief on the health insurance budget and in social security costs. The township was also able to forego some of the note (debt) payments. Officials also scrubbed the salary and wages budget and were able to extract further savings, he said.
Now officials will be concentrating on trying to get their application to defer their state-mandated pension costs, which has the biggest impact on the budget, until 2012. The township is due to pay a total of $545,”000 — $375,”000 into the Police and Fireman’s Retirement System and $170,”000 into the Public Employee Retirement System.
State law, however, is allowing for towns to hold off on paying those contributions until 2012, by which time, “hopefully, the economy will be more robust.”
Township Committee approved an application to the LFB, and township officials anticipate appearing before the board to plead their case. Township Committee is planning a budget introduction on Wednesday, April 22, with an appearance before the Local Finance Board on Wednesday, May 13, and a budget adoption on Wednesday, May 27.
“We thought it was appropriate because of the economy, and because of the impact of the school taxes on our local taxpayers” this year, Cantu said. “We’re hopeful this can be accomplished, and we can see the benefit to our local taxpayers.”
Approval of the deferral — a 1.5-cent savings — is already included in the 3.26-cent tax increase.
In the area of revenues, the township used $3.27 million in surplus to offset taxes. Still, the township saw its state aid decrease by $53,”000, and a decrease in revenue from hotel taxes, which fell by $151,”000. Interest on the township’s investments is also down by $372,”000. On the other hand, housing fees are up by $69,”000.
Employee-related expenses make up 60 percent of the budget, and account for 57 percent of this year’s budget increase. The budget also reflects the filling of vacant positions in the police department. In 2008, the township reduced its full-time staff by two positions through attrition.
As far as capital expenses, the budget reflects the use of the existing library facility, and officials are assuming $1.5 million for that expenditure, just for the purposes of budgeting right now.
