West Windsor will be without the fireworks program, and funding will be cut from both the Christmas tree lighting and Greening of West Windsor events in 2009 under a municipal budget proposal that poses a 2.71 percent overall increase over last year’s, members of the West Windsor Administration are saying.##M:[more]##
The proposed $36.39 million municipal budget this year reflects no new positions in the township government, but state-mandated pension costs and a hit to the amount of money the township received in state aid this year have made it tough for budgeting. The budget includes $8.8 million in revenue and $2.8 million in state aid — down by $113,”456.52 from last year’s $2.93 million.
According to the West Windsor administration, the total expenditures in the 2009 budget have been reduced by $342,”404.55 down to the $36.4 million budget from $36,”732,”404.55 originally proposed. In 2008, the total budget was $35.4 million. The 2.71 percent increase is the lowest annual increase West Windsor has seen in the past 15 years, said Chief Financial Officer Joanne Louth.
The tax rate in the 2009 municipal budget has increased by 1.7 cents to 33.09 cents per $100 of assessed valuation, and the amount to be raised by taxation is $20.6 million. Under the proposal as it is, the owner of the average assessed township home at $549,”345 would pay $1,”818.33 in municipal taxes this year, and increase of $93.39 over last year’s average $1,”724.94, Louth said. Of that increase to the tax rate, Louth said, half a penny on the tax rate is a direct result of the loss in state aid and the increase in state-mandated pension costs — two factors over which the township has no control. Further, that means that $27.42 of the $93.39 increase is a result of an increase imposed by the state.
Even with the cuts to some programs in this year’s budget, Business Administrator Chris Marion says that officials are “trying to ensure we preserve all of the core services we provide for residents.” Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh also said he has been working very hard with Louth and Marion to try to stabilize the property tax over the last few years, and to curb the practice of having fluctuating increases in the budgets every year.
The large reduction in state aid represents 0.2 cents of the 1.7-cent tax rate increase, says Louth. Another hit to the township’s revenues this year is the expected drop in the amount of interest or investments and deposits at banks utilized by the township. That revenue is expected to drop by $336,”500 to $1,”013,”500. The council’s next budget session is scheduled for Monday, April 13.
As officials have made various cuts to keep costs down, they will continue to do so in the coming year, says Marion, who adds that over the next six months, the administration will take a look at every single line item to see what kind of savings can be in store for next year. “We are open to all different ideas,” says Marion. “Although it’s a crisis, it’s also an opportunity for everyone to look into tightening up operations.”
Marion said that officials will be looking at getting more competitive quotes and will be looking at alternative means for the refuge collection contract, which will expire in 2011. A possibility is that the township may not have twice-a-week collection over the summer, Marion said.
The township has seen the effects of the rise in the population over the past decade — between 2000 and 2007, the township has experienced a 20.72 percent population growth, especially with developments like the Estates at Princeton Junction, Windsor Ponds, and Village Grande — says Louth. Therefore, “a penny means a lot,” Louth said. “We are the fastest growing community in the whole of Mercer County.”
Specifically as a result of the growth in the Estates, this year’s budget actually saw an increase in the sewer service charges in the revenue portion of the budget, with $300,”000 more coming in as a result of the larger population sharing the burden.
The downside to that is that the amount to be paid for West Windsor’s portion of the bill to Stony Brook Sewerage Authority has increased $241,”356, so the township cannot see much benefit from the increase in sewer service charges.
Also, with an increased population comes the need for an increase in the police force, and officials say that the township will need to hire another police officer soon. “This is the second year we have not funded police officers,” Marion said. “We’re getting to the point where we’re going to need another police officer. The only way we would be able to add a police officer is through the COPS (Office of Community Oriented Police Services) federal grant,” a program through the U.S. Department of Justice that administers grants to help advance the community policing efforts in communities around the country.
The only problem with this method is that the grant would fund a new officer’s salary for three years, after which the township would have to take over salary responsibilities, officials said. Last year’s budget discussions included talk of including a school resource officer position in the Department of Public Safety. The school board had said it was not going to be including its half of the funding for the salary in its own budget because Plainsboro officials were not on board with the idea, and school officials did not want to place a school resource officer at one school and not the other.
The council also heard from Jim Yates, the township’s emergency services coordinator, who said the emergency services budget is divided into two areas – fire code enforcement and emergency services response. This past year, the department enhanced its information technology program, continued the CERT program, implemented its capital improvement plan, and began the first phase of the mobile data terminal project, in which rescue crews are equipped with Panasonic Touchbooks to transmit patient information and charts. This enables responders to share information more quickly with hospitals than using paper information sheets.
In 2009 the department is proposing to reduce the emergency response portion of the budget by $520, and the fire code area by $185. This year, the department plans to install traffic control devices, replace a hose, and continue its data terminal replacement program. The department will also replace semi-automatic defibrillators around town with a cost of $2,”000 each for 10 units. The budget also includes funding to replace pagers for volunteer firefighters, he said.
In the area of law, Township Attorney Michael Herbert said that the law budget is decreasing by $25,”000, but the department is anticipating a very active year for other legal matters, including expected challenges to property assessments by residents.
“We’re hoping that with the exception of a couple personnel issues and Intercap (which should be resolved soon; we’ve asked for a summary judgment and dismissal),” litigation costs should not be that much.
Still, Council President Charles Morgan questioned why there was a 13 percent increase in legal fees, and a 15 percent decrease in litigation costs. He asked for a list of data on the legal fees paid to both Herbert and Gerald Muller, the planning board attorney.
In the area of the municipal courts, Judge Mary Brennan said that the department would also be working with the same budget, with no increases, as in 2008. However, the budget does include a cost increase of $1,”600 for public defenders fees.
Councilwoman Heidi Kleinman asked whether the department has considered sharing a courthouse with another municipality to save money, and Brennan said that the only problem is that other municipalities might have higher criminal case dockets and that extra security might be required. The closest municipality would be Robbinsville, but doing a shared courthouse might require an addition. It is not something that is being considered at this time.
Overall, the administration has said the amount spent for salaries and wages will increase this year by $309,”157, and the group insurance expenses will increase by $169,”700, township documents stated. The amount of money in the reserve for pensions will decrease by $115,”000.
The employee salaries, benefits, and payroll taxes comprise 51.42 percent of the total annual expenditures in the proposed budget. Despite the increase in salaries, officials are pointing out that overtime budgets have been reduced by $30,”000 or 5.2 percent over the 2008 budget.
Louth did say that further cost savings will be realized this year as the result of employee retirements and related transitions, and that “as we have vacancies, we’re going to review them on a case-by-case basis,” in terms of whether or not the township will look to hire new employees to fill those positions.
Other expenses include funding for ongoing programs and services including public safety and emergency management, leaf and brush collection, garbage and recycling and other services managed by the township. All departmental operating and expense budgets were reduced below 2008 levels, with the exception of the elections budget, and debt service obligations have also been reduced due to the refunding for the 1998 and 2001 bond issues, township documents stated. The amount budgeted for the GroWW event was reduced from $15,”000 last year to $2,”500 this year.
The proposed budget for the Capital Improvement Program is $4,”601,”625 this year, $3 million less than the amount allotted in the 2008 budget. The Penn Lyle Road Phase II project and park improvements at Community Park are included this year.
However, one of the biggest factors in this year’s budget is the pension obligations for the Public Employees Retirement System and the Police and Firemen’s Retirement System, which are $446,”395 and $1,”147,”857, respectively, budget documents stated. “The total pension obligation increase for 2009 is $213,”765 and represents 0.3 cents of the 1.7 cent municipal tax rate increase,” the documents stated.
Louth explained that West Windsor is not eligible for the pension deferral program recently enacted by the state in which financially-troubled municipalities can apply to the Local Finance Board to defer payments on their pension obligations until 2012. Louth explained, however, that the municipality needs to show financial distress in being able to pay the full amount.
Hsueh also said that deferring the payments would generate 8.25 percent in interest over 15 years, and he would rather see the township pay its obligations now.
“It is in our best interest to pay it now,” Louth said, adding that it is hard to predict what the financial climate will look like in 2012. She also said that West Windsor’s obligation is fully funded this year, which means the pension obligations should not be as much of a burden next year.
The administration also continued to use the same amount of surplus — $4.2 million — as it had in the 2007 and 2008 budgets to help offset the tax burden, in accordance to the township’s long-term financial plan. “I don’t want to see those numbers fluctuate up or down,” said Hsueh.
In addition, “we predict that our surplus balance will go down again because of these difficult times,” said Louth. Louth explained that the 2008 budget started with a surplus of $7.8 million. Last year, the township also used $4.2 million to offset taxes. However, in 2008, the township only generated $3.8 million of that surplus back, leaving a $433,”000 shortfall. As a result, starting out this year, the township only had $7.6 million in surplus. If the township again does not turn a profit, there could conceivably be as little as $3.6 million in the surplus to start with next year.
While other municipalities are looking at layoffs and furloughs, however, “we’re not there yet, but we need to see some brighter economic times ahead,” Marion said.
