WW-P school officials can breathe a sigh of relief as the district’s flat $155.9 million budget that comes with a tax levy increase of 4 percent has passed by a narrow 2,862-2,667 margin –- a difference of 195 votes, according to school district numbers.
West Windsor voters approved the budget, 1,947-1,807. In Plainsboro, where taxpayers will be hit the hardest, the budget passed by a narrow 55 votes, 915-860, district officials announced.
Plainsboro incumbent Ellen Walsh got the vote of confidence from her constituents, who chose her over challenger, Harshad Tanna, by an overwhelming count of 997-529, school officials reported.
Plainsboro Township numbers showed the same ultimate results, but showed the budget vote at 907-853 and the candidate vote at 990-522.
In West Windsor, incumbents Hemant Marathe and Robert Johnson also won the approval of voters who selected them with votes of 1,696 and 2,103, respectively. Challengers Scott Powell received 1,545; Rakesh Kak received 493; and Vijay Kanchi received 484 votes.
The 2010-’11 school budget of $155.9 million is the same amount as the current year’s spending plan. But even the flat measure was not enough to offset a $7.56 million loss in state aid this year that had officials struggling over the last month to make cuts. To cover that gap, the district will have to eliminate some 50 teachers – the details of which are expected to come by the end of this month.
Under the approved budget, Plainsboro’s rate will increase by some 10 cents to $1.549, while West Windsor’s will increase by 4 cents to $1.34 per $100 of assessed value this year.
Under those numbers, the owner of a Plainsboro home assessed at the township average of $395,000 will pay an average of $6,119 in school taxes, an increase of about $400 over last year.
In West Windsor, the owner of a home assessed at the township average of $534,787 would pay a tax bill of approximately $7,171, based on a tax rate of $1.34 per $100 of assessed value. Both the school’s numbers and the township’s numbers reflect that figure.
But the school district and the township have different methods of determining the tax impact.
The township’s methodology calculates an increase $198 over last year’s bill. In making a comparison, they calculate the average increase for the owner of a home assessed at the $534,787 value for both years. That homeowner paid $6,973 last year.
However, school officials say that looking at the numbers in that way is incorrect. Taking the tax rates for both this year and last year and measuring them against the same assessment is not an accurate representation of the tax impact because many residents’ homes are not assessed as high as they were last year, they argue. Therefore, using last year’s assessment of around $549,000 and applying it to the formula will show an increase of only $8.
