By Dave Fried
When Standard and Poor’s raised its long term rating on Robbinsville Township’s General Obligation bonds from AA to AA+ last month, it was the strongest indicator yet of our township’s fiscal strength and stable outlook.
What makes the upgrade all the more impressive is it comes at the same time the State of New Jersey was downgraded (AA- to A+). Secondly, it is very difficult to improve to an AA+ rating once a municipality or other financial institution has reached an AA rating.
It also means someone has noticed all of our hard work, and that the changes we implemented eight years ago—changes that were not always popular or politically correct—assured us of being sustainable and part of the solution in New Jersey.
The 2014 municipal budget we submitted to township council on March 27 is $400,085.88 less than the budgeted amount in 2013 at $21,360,697.09. We also will pay 5.5 percent less ($250,000) toward our debt load, which will be reduced by $995,772.25 over the next 12 months. That, I can assure you, is a reverse trend across America.
It is a flat budget that we can all be very proud of. In fact, I said it at my State of the Township address March 27 and I will say it again: I feel our township, and this budget, is as strong as it’s ever been.
Business Administrator Joy Tozzi, along with our finance team headed by Chief Financial Officer Debbie Bauer, did a tremendous job mapping our path for the next 12 months and beyond.
At a time when many of our neighbors, our own school district and Mercer County itself are raising taxes this year, we can boast the most stable municipal tax rate in the county.
The changes we made eight years ago could not have been possible without the cooperation of our labors and our unions. They have been with us this entire time and they understand that the only way for Robbinsville to be sustainable going forward is to work together. That is a big reason why we have been able to hire new workers while almost everyone else has been laying people off.
Standard & Poor’s weighed factors such as our very strong economy and budgetary flexibility, along with a projected operating surplus for fiscal 2013, very strong liquidity, strong management conditions with good financial policies and weak debt in determining Robbinsville’s new rating. The imminent opening of the new Amazon order fulfillment center in Robbinsville, which we are all very excited about, also played a role. We could not be more thrilled.
Speaking of jobs, those interested in working at the new Amazon facility can attend daily information sessions at the Mercer County One-Stop Career Center, located at 26 Yard Avenue (1st Floor), in Trenton. The session hours as of this printing were Monday through Thursday at 10 a.m. and Fridays at 10:30 a.m. No appointment is necessary.
An understanding of the Amazon application process is provided at these sessions, but please keep in mind positions for fulfillment associates will be filled at a later date.
Dave Fried is the mayor of Robbinsville.
