After Council voted in favor of a potential $463,000 reduction in the municipal budget, Mayor Hsueh and the administration went to work to propose his own reductions — smaller in scale, but, he argues, not causing long-term damage to West Windsor’s financial strategy.
Ahead of the public hearing and adoption, set for a vote on Monday, April 16, Mayor Hsueh has made his revisions — and reasoning — known to the five members of Council. The mayor will propose a $150,000 reduction of the proposed $37.3 million budget. Despite the reduction, the municipal tax rate would be increased by half a penny (.005) or 1.36 percent. The average home in West Windsor valued at $530,000 would pay an additional $26.20 in taxes.
Township Attorney Michael W. Herbert has drafted a letter outlining the proper procedures for the upcoming final round of budget discussion. His letter explains that the 3-2 vote on March 26 to reduce the budget amount will not bind Council to remove $463,000 from the municipal budget because the action was not taken during the advertised session on the date of the official public hearing on the budget (April 16).
Of Council’s suggested budget cut of $463,000, $200,000 would come from the township’s revenues from the sale of liquor licenses, which totaled approximately $2 million. Mayor Hsueh previously stated that he is against using a portion of such one-time revenue to offset this year’s budget increases.
“To reduce the budget artificially by $463,000 would be good politics but bad policy. If I do more reductions, then in the future taxpayers will have to pay more,” Hsueh said on April 11.
After the Council’s vote on March 26 the administration sought input from its financial advisory firm. David Thompson, CEO of Bordentown-based Phoenix Advisors LLC, wrote in a memo to Mayor Hsueh that the use of one-time revenue should be reserved for two cases: a capital expenditure that has a long-term life or contributes to long-term operating efficiency as well as situations where the revenue can offset a one-time budget expense or an unusual spike in a particular line item.
In the first scenario the use of one-time revenue can avoid borrowing, cut debt service, and pay down existing debt, thereby improving operational efficiency. With one-time budget expenses, some atypical cases could include natural disaster costs, a high legal expense, a master plan expansion, or a large community celebration, Thompson wrote in his memo.
The mayor also sent his own message to Council, saying that he is willing to collaborate on some reductions to the budget, specifically reducing the appropriation for Planning Board Attorney Gerry Muller by $10,000. Hsueh included details of his stance against the use of $200,000 from liquor license revenues and increasing the projection for construction code revenues by $100,000.
The mayor suggests using an additional $140,000 from the township’s fund balance rather than counting on increases in projected revenues.
