While the Hopewell Township Committee still has two meetings on the calendar in 2023 (December 4 and 18), we are already looking ahead to 2024.
The township committee will start the year with a reorganization meeting in early January. During that meeting, we will select a mayor and deputy mayor to serve for the year. I am honored that I had the opportunity to be Hopewell Township’s mayor in 2023.
All township households will receive the township calendar early in the year. The calendar will include photos from our photo contest for local residents to showcase the best of the township.
It will also include important information about township services, including easy to scan QR codes to link directly to the relevant pages on the township’s website. The calendar is just one of the ways we distribute information, which include the monthly e-newsletter; the senior newsletter; our quarterly Town Crier; posts on Facebook, Instagram and X; and the township website.
Be sure to check the calendar and the website for the dates of township committee meetings, which can be joined in person or remotely.
We’ll spend considerable time during the first few months of the year on establishing the township’s 2024 budget. In my opinion, this is the single most important role of the township committee, as budget decisions affect every taxpayer.
In 2023 we held the line on spending—even in the face of inflation—and provided a modest reduction in the tax rate. Our budget process has already begun for 2024, with township department heads preparing spending plans. These plans will be presented to the committee in a series of public budget meetings.
We will go through each proposal, line by line, to ensure we are striking the balance of delivering the high quality services our residents deserve and keeping Hopewell Township’s share of property tax bills as low as possible. The final budget will be adopted in the spring.
We will continue to work to promote the Princeton West Innovation Campus site (the former Bristol-Myers Squibb site). We have already welcomed new businesses there and look forward to welcoming more, as these ratables will be a significant source of revenue for the township in the years ahead.
Another source of revenue will be moneys received through Payment in Lieu of Taxes, or PILOT, agreements, between the township and the developers currently building new affordable and market rate housing. And we should start to see revenue from cannabis cultivation, manufacturing, and retail sales.
At some point in 2024 we will need to revisit the township sign ordinance. We held a public work session on our sign ordinance in the fall. We want to ensure that any changes to the sign ordinance are in compliance with recent court decisions.
We also want to make sure that our ordinance meets the needs of local businesses while balancing aesthetic and safety considerations.
Construction of the Woolsey Park bandshell will be finished in the coming weeks. I am looking forward to our first event at the bandshell, which was funded entirely through a $500,000 grant from the State of New Jersey.
Another exciting event will be the groundbreaking of the new senior and community center. I know residents have waited a long time for this to happen, but I think they will find it worth the wait. A $2 million grant from the State of New Jersey and a smaller grant from Mercer County will help to defray the costs of construction.
Of course there will be many unforeseen challenges and opportunities in the year ahead. But whatever happens, all of us on the township committee will work to make our community an even better place for everyone.
Michael Ruger is the mayor of Hopewell Township, which provided this content.
