The West Windsor Township Council has introduced its $37 million budget, but not everyone is optimistic about its 1.4-cent tax rate increase.
The budget, introduced on May 28 by a 4-1 vote, with Councilman Charles Morgan dissenting, includes the use of $600,000 in funds received from the sale of two liquor licenses in this year’s budget. The revenue from the sale was originally earmarked to be used for a renovation project at the municipal building but will now be used to offset taxes.
The idea was proposed in the 11th-hour by Council President George Borek as a way to build consensus on the council, which had struggled for more than two months to find ways to limit the impact on taxpayers.
Combining the $200,000 in savings from cuts to overtime and nonessential part-time staff and the use of $600,000 from the liquor license (worth a total $1.3 million) to offset taxes, the council slashed $800,000 from the budget in a 4-1 vote prior to the special session on May 28 specifically for introduction. A public hearing on the budget is scheduled for Monday, June 28.
The township had received a total of $1.3 million in revenue from the sale of two liquor licenses this past year that was to be used in the capital budget toward renovating the former police wing attached to the municipal building. The trailer is the current home to the Health, Recreation, and Emergency Services departments. Borek’s proposal removed $600,000 of that revenue to offset taxes.
Under the 2010 budget, this year’s tax rate would increase by 1.4 cents to 34.5 cents per $100 of assessed value over last year’s rate of 33.1 cents. That translates into a municipal tax bill of $1,845 for the owner of a home assessed at the township average of $534,782 — an increase of about $75.
Of the $37 million budget, $20.97 million is expected to be raised through taxation, an increase of 1.9 percent over last year’s tax levy.
However, Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh said that prior to the introduction of the budget, he had supported the idea of using half ($300,000) of what was ultimately taken from the liquor license revenue — but no more — for a total tax rate increase of 1.9 cents.
“The township will only be allowed next year to go up by half a million dollars,” said Hsueh, referring to Governor Chris Christie’s proposed 2.5 percent cap on property tax increases next year. Taking $300,000 and “assuming the economy will come back is a good assumption,” Hsueh said. “But $600,000 is definitely going to create more problems. The population in West Windsor continues to grow.”
Hsueh acknowledged that the council makes the ultimate decision, but said council members need to be aware of the 2.5 percent cap, which will put a serious strain on township services if the township is only allowed to increase the budget by half a million dollars over the prior year. Having a slightly higher budget this year will allow for a larger dollar amount in next year’s budget.
“Even though it’s not official, I’m pretty sure it’s going to get passed,” Hsueh added. “I think the assumption the council is making is that it’s a bad economic year, and next year the economy will come back. That is a very optimistic view. I think we all want the economy to come back next year. It’s going to take a longer time. Even though it’s moving in the right direction, it doesn’t mean it’s going to come back right away.”
He pointed to services, like garbage collection, that would have to be cut. The township pays what averages out to be about $172 per household in garbage collection. If the township nixes the services in next year’s budget, residents will have to pay anywhere from $300 to $500 privately for the collection, Hsueh said.
Currently, the township is already receiving complaints from residents about the reduction in leaf and brush collection, saying the collection is too slow. But the township is only using overtime for occasions including public safety issues.
Others have complained of similar situations. At the June 1 council meeting, resident Guy Pierson asked the council to do something about the tall grass on the Route 1 frontage in the West Windsor portion of the road — a safety hazard, he said.
Hsueh said that while it is a state roadway, and state crews are responsible for maintenance, township employees used to fill in and maintain the areas when the state could not get to it in a timely fashion, but not anymore. “We have to be more selective,” said Hsueh. “It’s a tough time; we all have to sacrifice.”
But the council should look at long-term planning so more services will not have to be cut in the future. He referred to the $619,620 in energy tax receipt revenue that the township lost this year. “Next year, we have no idea whether the state will impose more requirements that we have to pay for,” he said. “I tried to push for the zero percent increase, but there are too many parameters that we have to deal with.”
Morgan, who has advocated dipping further into the surplus to reduce taxes, voted against Borek’s proposal and subsequently voted against introduction on May 28.
Prior to Borek’s proposal and subsequent introduction of the budget, the council had struggled since March to cut down the originally proposed $37.1 million package. The original budget called for a 5.8 percent tax levy increase from $20.6 million to $21.8 million and an original tax rate of 35.7 cents, which would have meant an increase of $139 on the average tax bill.
Having already called for the use of $200,000 more in surplus than it did last year — for a total of $4.4 million being used from surplus to offset taxes — the council wanted to avoid dipping further into the surplus for tax relief, as Morgan had proposed.
There is $25,000 budgeted to pay a consultant to conduct an efficiency study to find areas of savings this year. Councilman Kamal Khanna, who had pushed for an efficiency study to find savings before this year’s budget was introduced, urged township officials at the June 1 council meeting to get started on that study right away.
“Over the past several months, I’ve proposed an efficiency study,” he said. “I’m pleased to see everybody’s gotten serious about it. Our first step is to bring in the League of Municipalities to get us started.” He also asked the administration to provide details on the next steps.
