The West Windsor Township Council will hold a public hearing and is expected to vote on its 2011 municipal budget on Monday, May 16.
The budget was introduced in April after council trimmed $800,000 from its capital projects in hopes of curtaining future debt. Meanwhile, the tax rate has been reduced to a 2.4-cent increase per $100 of assessed value, and the tax levy increase has been reduced to about 4.8 percent, officials calculated.
The owner of a house assessed at the township average of $527,376 will now see an increase of about $100 — down from $108 as originally projected.
The cut in $800,000 from the capital budget came after the council made a decision to move the replacement of the trailer in front of the municipal building — a project worth $650,000 — to another year as well as extend the Duck Pond Park final capital project another year.
Instead of allocating $300,000 in 2011 for the Duck Pond Park project, council will spend $150,000 this year and $150,000 in 2012. This brings the capital budget down to $3 million for 2011.
Meanwhile, the council also decided to further reduce the overtime for non-emergency services (services including police, fire, and snow removal) by 5 percent.
The operating budget will be reduced by a total of $78,000. That includes the $60,000 from the budget that was cut in March because of a retirement in one of the township’s departments.
This resulted in the reduction of one position in the township’s budget this year, and that the township will move someone in the clerk’s office over to another department to fill the gap.
That resulted in a reduction in $30,000 in salaries and wages. That was combined with savings from the elimination of the animal control officer, which saved the township costs associated with overtime, health insurance, social security tax, and salary for that position. The net savings was $85,000.
However, the township estimated its agreement with East Windsor for animal control services will cost the township about $33,000 — $25,000 of which was included in the budget.
That brought the total savings down to $60,000. But the other reductions, including a reduction of over time for non-essential employees, bring the total cuts to $78,000 in the budget.
WW Contracts. In other business, the West Windsor Council has approved contracts for three separate projects.
The first of the contracts, approved on May 9, was with JWT Excavating Inc., of Holmdel, for the South Post Road Wastewater Pumping Station Rehabilitation, at a cost of $213,275.
The township awarded the contract after it received 13 bids. JWT Excavating was the lowest responsible bidder.
The council also approved a contract with Halecon Inc., of Bridgewater, for expansion of the parking lot at Community Park — at a cost of $398,934.44. The township also received 13 bids on this project, of which Halecon was the lowest.
A contract with Orchard Holdings LLC, of Manasquan, for $68,771, was also approved. The contract will cover the pedestrian safety improvements scheduled in the 2010 budget. Orchard Holdings was the lowest of five bidders.
