Next to public safety, perhaps the most important things I can do as mayor to improve the quality of life for the residents of Robbinsville is to keep the municipal portion of your tax bill down, and home values up.
According to recent data pulled from TREND MLS, home values in Robbinsville Township increased 15.8 percent from 2010 to 2014.
From 2011-2014, the sale price for a Robbinsville home increased by an average of $51,399, to $376,977. What that tells me is the things we have been doing over the last five years have resulted in our town having the fastest growing property values in all of Mercer County. Higher property values means Robbinsville can remain a desirable place for people to raise their families, while helping to assure that what often is a family’s greatest investment, their home, remains an appreciating asset.
Of the 12 Mercer County towns analyzed, only Robbinsville (15.8), Pennington (10.4), West Windsor (9.7) and Princeton (7.0) returned increases in valuations. Trenton experienced the largest drop at 16.5 percent, with our neighbors in Hamilton Township experiencing a decline of 7.7 percent.
Additionally, the average home for sale in Robbinsville in 2014 stayed on the market for only 69 days, second to only West Windsor (51 days). By comparison, in 2011 the average home in Robbinsville remained unsold for 113 days, which means houses in Robbinsville have sold 60 percent faster over the past three years.
These numbers also are a fairly strong indicator as to how well we are doing as a municipality.
I made mention of home values in my 2015 State of Robbinsville Township Address April 1 at the Hilton Garden Inn, before I received the latest data. I knew the numbers were improved, but let’s just say I was very pleasantly surprised by the actual statistics. We also know our grade as a municipality is high based on these figures. When there is strong demand to live in our community it results in high property values, and we’ll never stop fighting to give our residents the best of everything at the lowest possible cost.
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I would like to express my appreciation to the Robbinsville School District and the Board of Education for inviting me to speak at the official “Classrooms For Kids’’ celebration April 26.
The renovations and additions to the Sharon Elementary School are amazing, and I’m proud that we all were able to work together to provide our children a top-flight facility and the tools to learn and grow.
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Our biggest month of recreation is on tap, highlighted by Community Day Festival June 13 at Community Park.
There will be food, all-day music, “Prize Alley,’’ activities and games for the kids, vendors and, of course, fireworks at approximately 9 p.m.
On June 21, the Father’s Day Fishing Derby will be held at West Town Center Lake. Registration is at 7 a.m., at the gazebo with fishing from 8-11 a.m. Various prizes will be awarded, and food will be sold throughout the morning by the Robbinsville High Marching Band.
Dave Fried is mayor of Robbinsville.
