The Plainsboro Township Committee voted to introduce a significantly changed 2012 budget at its meeting on Wednesday, March 14. The $25,804,198.05 budget will raise the municipal tax rate by 0.9 percent, a penny less than originally proposed. Business Administrator Robert O. Sheehan first presented an increase of just under two cents, or .198, at the Committee’s meeting on February 22 (WW-P News, March 2).
Sheehan said that further examination of the budget’s numbers “allowed us to anticipate additional revenues and revenues at higher levels that resulted in a revised number.” The municipal tax increase was originally projected to be the equivalent of $77 on the average Plainsboro home, valued at $387,800. That amount will now stand at $38.
Mayor Cantu and each member of the township committee thanked the staff for their efforts to reduce the tax impact on residents. Committee member Ed Yates commented that while lower taxes were achieved with the reworking of the budget, additional township services were also included to benefit residents.
Also, just as West Windsor did on February 27 (WW-P News, March 2) Plainsboro adopted an ordinance to exceed the cap limit, if necessary, and raise it to 3.5 percent in order to establish a cap bank. The current cap is 2.5 percent.
When Sheehan proposed the preliminary budget to the township committee on February 22, one item that stood out was a $333,000 increase in the Plainsboro Police’s salary and wages over last year’s allocation. Mayor Cantu and Committee member Ed Yates asked about the increase and how it fits into the budget’s big picture, which was proposed as $1.87 million above last year’s budget.
Ahead of the Committee’s meeting on Wednesday, March 14, Sheehan says he had revised several aspects of the proposed budget, and there will be increases in revenues as well as some “reductions in appropriations” that will further reduce the tax rate. But he says the 1/3 of a million dollars increase for police will remain, and for good reason.
“The increase is largely a salary increase based on what we negotiated with the union. Secondly, it is the full-year impact of hiring three new officers that were authorized in last year’s budget — they were hired in the middle of the year so the expense to last year’s budget was muted,” Sheehan said.
For several years Plainsboro did not fill all of the police officer slots for budgetary reasons, according to Sheehan. Now new officers are coming in due to retirements on the current force. Sheehan explained that with the retirement of Chief Richard Furda last fall “everybody moved up on the totem pole” in the police department, meaning that a patrol officer position opened and had to be filled.
The 2012 budget calls for an additional officer, and Chief Guy Armour has stated that there would be a new hire likely around the time the new hospital opens. Sheehan explained the policy in effect.
“The new officer would increase the current authorized level to 36. Thirty-five has been in place for a number of years so this would be the first increase in a while,” Sheehan said.
Sheehan said Plainsboro has been prudent, but it’s the right timeto add people. “Right now, as the hospital and other big projects come on line, we feel that it’s appropriate to move the level up,” Sheehan said, noting that the Township Committee has yet to authorize this proposal.
The public hearing on Plainsboro’s 2012 budget is scheduled for Wednesday, March 28. At its March 14 meeting the township committee passed a new resolution to read the budget by title only, allowing for a more condensed reading.
