The $35.4 million West Windsor budget got the approval from council on May 19, which adopted it, 4-1, after a public hearing and presentation from Chief Financial Officer Joanne Louth.##M:[more]##
The budget — which includes funding for a new dispatcher in the Department of Public Safety and an administrative assistant in the clerk’s office — carries a tax rate increase of 3.4 cents, down from the 3.6 cent-increase originally proposed. The council cut about $120,”000 from the overall budget. The owner of a house assessed at the township average of $556,”973 will see an increase of about $189.37 in taxes, for a total $1,”748.90 tax bill this year.
Total operating expenses in the budget this year are $23.4 million, and salaries and wages comprise about $12 million, up from $21.4 million and $11.4 million, respectively, in 2007, Louth said. Public safety, debt service, and insurance costs are the largest budget items. Salary and wages for public safety are at $6.2 million, and operating expenses for the department are at $713,”475, which makes up 19.5 percent of the total budget. Debt service, which accounts for 13.6 percent of the budget, is at $4.8 million. Insurance costs, which make up 12.3 percent of the budget, account for $4.3 million of the budget.
The sections of the budget that saw the largest increases this year were salary and wages, debt service, and police and firemen’s retirement systems. Salaries and wages increased by $626,”414, while debt service increased by $502,”153, and police and firemen’s retirement system increased by $383,”949.
Local taxes account for 55.3 percent of the revenue for this year’s budget, while municipal fees make up 14.7 percent and the fund balance/surplus of $4.2 million make up 11.8 percent of the revenues, Louth said. State aid makes up $2.9 million, or 8.3 percent of the township’s revenue, which is down because of $240,”411 in lost state aid.
The reduction in state aid accounts for .4 cents of the tax rate increase, and state-mandated increase in pension costs to $528,”000 represents .9 cents on the tax rate, Louth said. “So, 1.3 cents of this tax increase is beyond our control.”
Louth also pointed out that the township has already been seeing a decrease in the number of construction permits being issued, as the township approaches full build out, which means less revenue for the township to rely upon.
Residents David Brienza and Pete Weale criticized the presentation, saying that it lacked information regarding past trends and that it was lacking in the amount of detail they would have liked.
Resident Ed O’Mara asked what would happen to the AAA bond rating if the township were to cut into the surplus to help offset the tax rate, a move suggested and supported by Councilman Charles Morgan to help lower the tax rate by at least another penny.
Louth said that dipping into surplus this year would be dangerous given this year’s uncertain economic environment. If the township is unable to replenish the surplus, taxes could rise more dramatically next year instead because there wouldn’t be enough surplus to offset taxes then. The closer the township gets to final build-out, the less ratables it will have, and coupled with a potentially slow housing market, the township may not regain some of its revenue to offset taxes next year.
Resident Bob Akens, who has also been a proponent of dipping into the surplus, suggested that perhaps some members of council were afraid of tax increases next year when they, and the mayor, are up for re-election.
Morgan, who voted against adoption, said he felt the township would not be at risk if it used some of the surplus this year. “This is wrong,” he said. “The tax increase is too much. There is no reason why we can’t,” he said, referring to using the surplus money.
Morgan says that there is a 24 percent one-year increase in cash surplus available, yet a 12 percent overall increase in 2008’s budget. Further, he said, there has been a 14 percent increase over six years in cash surplus used to support the budget, while there has been a 102 percent increase over six years in cash surplus that was actually available to support the budget.
“The point I’m making is that over the last six years, we’ve only seen a 14 percent increase in the cash surplus used to support the budget, in other words, the amount of cash surplus used to help out our taxpayers,” he said. “We actually had a 42 percent decrease over those same six years in cash surplus used to support the budget.”
“That’s at a time when we’ve seen increasing tax rates, and all I’m saying is we didn’t need this big of a tax rate this year because of the healthy surplus we’ve had,” Morgan added.
Councilwoman Linda Geevers agreed with keeping the money in surplus, and said she wants to see the township continue long-term planning and participate in more interlocal service agreements in the future to help offset taxes.
Councilman George Borek said he didn’t want to impose any new taxes, but he did have concerns for next year. “There’s no light at the end of the tunnel right now,” he said referring to the economy. “There’s too much uncertainty for next year. I would love to go down to having $600,”000 in the bank for next year (in surplus), but it’s better not to throw everything in the basket.”
Councilwoman Heidi Kleinman also agreed with keeping the surplus intact, saying that because the township is not seeing any new building permits, projects around town will probably not be completed in the next year or two, meaning there will be fewer new ratables for the following year. “This is an appropriate amount in being cautious for the next year,” she said. Growth, she said, “is not going to be what our future is.”
Council President Will Anklowitz said he was pleased with the response he got from the administration with regard to cutting the budget by $120,”000 and that the positions in the police department and clerk’s office made it into the budget. “They’ve been operating essentially without someone who left a couple years ago,” he said, referring to the clerk’s office. He also said the additional dispatcher would help offset overtime costs in the department, which needed to pay dispatchers overtime to fill in scheduling gaps.
