Plainsboro Township introduced its 2016 budget at the March 23 committee meeting, with a public hearing scheduled for the Wednesday, April 27, committee meeting. The introduced budget resembles the one discussed in February: $27.45 million, a 3.7 percent increase from the $26.46 million 2015 budget.
Most of the increase is attributed to salary and benefit increases, capital improvements, and debt service.
The township anticipates $11.5 million in non-property tax revenue. The surplus fund is down $1 million, and so revenue from the surplus fund balance for 2016 is $2.78 million, down from $3.78 million in 2015. (The reserve is $747,990, or 3 percent of operating revenue.) The township is also anticipating fewer Uniform Construction Code fees for 2016, at $540,000. The 2015 anticipated UCC revenue was $764,000, but the realized figure was $551,144. The other major revenue adjustment is an increase in anticipated capital fund balance from $318,500 in 2015 to $1.183 million for 2016.
To balance the 2016 budget, the total 2016 levy is $15.94 million. This includes the library levy, and it represents an 8.8 percent increase from the 2015 municipal levy of $14.7 million. The municipal levy accounts for 15 percent of a resident’s property tax bill.
The 2016 municipal tax rate is 34.3 cents per $100 of assessed value. This year’s tax reassessment increased the average household assessment 17 percent from $386,119 in 2015 to $451,588. The total rateable for 2016 is $4.643 billion, a $862 million, or 22.8 percent, net assessed value increase. Based on the post-reassessment average home value of $451,588, the administration estimates an annual municipal tax increase of $48.
The 2016 capital allocation is more than $2.8 million. The majority will go toward road maintenance. Other projects for 2016 include Plainsboro Road improvements, crosswalk installation at Maple Avenue and Plainsboro Dam, reconstructing four tennis courts at Plainsboro Park, replacing two baseball dugouts at Community Park, and body cameras, in-car video recording equipment, and automatic license plate readers for the police department.
Several ordinances are scheduled for public hearing at the Wednesday, April 13, committee meeting. Two are police salary ordinances, one for the superior police officers union that establishes a 2 percent adjustment for the years 2014 to 2016. First-year sergeants are paid $109,952 in 2016 and first-year lieutenants are paid $137,633, with higher salaries for more senior officers.
The other salary ordinance sets the police chief salary at $156,144. The superior officers’ collective bargaining agreement was the final contract negotiation for the township’s six bargaining units, which all expire at the end of 2016.
Also scheduled for introduction is an amendment to the sign ordinance that would shorten the allowed duration of advertising street and lawn signage and give the zoning officer greater ability to remove signs and fine violators.
In other news, the Arbor Day Foundation named Plainsboro a 2015 Tree City USA.
#b#Hospital Property Tax#/b#
With New Jersey municipalities eyeing nonprofit hospitals for property tax revenue, Plainsboro is keeping its options open. According to Mayor Peter Cantu, the tax assessor’s office has requested specific information from the nonprofit University Medical Center regarding the hospital’s activity.
At the March 23 meeting the township committee approved the filing of tax appeals for hospital properties, a move intended to protect the township’s future options but stops short of adding the hospital property to the township’s tax rolls. “This preserves the township’s rights to go to court,” Cantu said.
At least one other New Jersey municipality has added hospital property directly onto the municipal tax rolls, a decision that puts hospitals on the defensive. When asked if Plainsboro considered this course of action, Cantu said the situation is complex and fluid, citing potential future actions from the state legislature and the governor’s office.
The property tax exemption status for nonprofit hospitals in the state has been rattled after a 2015 ruling in the Tax Court of New Jersey against Morristown Medical Center. The hospital company and Morristown ultimately reached a settlement that resulted in payment of $15.5 million in back taxes and penalties, and in addition 24 percent of the hospital’s property was subject to future property taxation.
University Medical Center of Princeton at Plainsboro is situated in a redevelopment site. Properties on the site contribute nearly $1.5 million in annual payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) to the township. This includes $840,000 from the medical arts pavilion; $440,000 from the Merwick Center; and $180,000 from Princeton Fitness & Wellness Center. The University Medical Center does not make a PILOT payment, instead paying an annual $72,000 hospital impact fee.
An 11,700-square-foot child care center in the redevelopment site is also set for township approval. An ordinance approving a financial agreement between the applicant, DYC Development Urban Renewal, and the township, is up for public hearing on Wednesday, April 13.
