Plainsboro’s municipal tax increase will not be as bad as it originally appeared to be. The township held a special meeting on March 21 to introduce its budget. ##M:[more]##The proposed tax rate increase, originally reported at 9 cents, now stands at 6.8 cents per $100 of assessed value.
Additional relief could come in the form of state aid through a program where towns in extraordinary circumstances are given additional funds to ease their residents’ tax burden.
“There are unusual circumstances, and it is by no means a certainty, but we certainly could qualify,” said Township Administrator Robert Sheehan.
The township has never applied for funding through this program in the past. It will learn whether it qualifies by late spring or early summer, according to Sheehan. The public hearing on the budget is expected to be on Wednesday, April 25.
The township’s expenditures increased only 2.39 percent from last year, but the nearly 25 percent rise in the tax rate is a result of a loss of revenue in 2007 due to lower construction fees, fewer municipal fines, and less hotel tax being collected. The township also sold a $600,”000 liquor license that boosted 2006 revenues.
State law requires that towns do not anticipate higher revenues than they earned in the previous year. Plainsboro applied for an exception that allows the budgeting of $50,”000 more in hotel tax revenue and $20,”000 more in billing by the rescue squad in 2007.
According to Sheehan, the $115,”000 cut from the budget was taken mostly from operating expenses. “There was a 5 percent reduction in all departments from the operating and expenses budget,” said Sheehan.
