Despite the rough economic environment for construction, the West Windsor Community Development Department did not see a slow down in the projects on which it worked this past year. And the department actually projected an increase in revenue of $100,”000, said Joe Valeri, the township’s construction official, as budget discussions continued on April 2.##M:[more]##
The Township Council was expected to wrap up its budget discussions on Thursday, April 16 (after the News went to press), with discussion focusing on engineering, finance, and mayor, administrative, and council costs. The council is expected to introduce the $36.39 million budget on Monday, April 20, with a public hearing and adoption scheduled for Monday, May 18.
The budget is projected to increase by 2.71 percent to $36.39 million. The tax rate will would increase by 1.7 cents to 33.09 cents per $100 of assessed valuation.
During the most recent meeting, Valeri listed the range of construction projects West Windsor had to deal with this year. Those included progress on the addition at the Princeton Presbyterian Church; a pre-construction meeting with officials at St. David the King church, which is also constructing an addition; progression on the Toll Brothers development, which should be completed in the next couple of months; and renovations at MarketFair, for which the township has just issued permits for interior renovation.
Community Development staff also have been involved in the work at Avalon Watch, which is renovating every single apartment as tenants move out. The development is also constructing a new swimming pool. There is also continuing work at the contaminated WWM site on the corner of Princeton-Hightstown and Southfield roads, where the state Department of Environmental Protection has approved slab and partial foundation to cap the contaminated soil on site. The WWM site was approved for a shopping center that includes a day care center.
Valeri said the township has generally seen a pick-up in construction. “We’ve been steady, keeping busy,” he said, adding that most of it consists of age-restricted cosntruction. Valeri also said that the department had increased its fee structure by 12 percent last year, but decreased roofing and siding fees. The operating budget for the construction sector of the Community Development Department decreased by $585 to $47,”240, he said.
Sam Surtees, the manager of the township’s Division of Land Use spoke about the land use and zoning budgets and accomplishments. By 2008, 48 percent of the township’s land had been preserved either through Green Acres, or state and county farmland preservation programs. Land use files from 1987 up through the present were scanned into microfiche and made available for the public to review online, Surtees said. And in 2008, 24 land use ordinances, including the mass rezoning of 80 percent of the township’s residential properties, and revisions to the township’s sign ordinance, were adopted, he said.
Last year the land use department collected $34,”000 in zoning fees, received over $42,”000 for tillable acres of farmland, and received $13,”000 from applicants to the boards that went into an escrow account that paid for some of Surtees’s salary for the year.
In 2009, he said, main projects include amending the farmland preservation element of the Master Plan, which has not been amended since 2002 and taking a look at creating a historic district in the Grover’s Mill area. The department is also looking to reduce printing costs, since most of its files are on microfiche.
There is a 9.29 percent reduction in the operating budget for the Zoning Board of Adjustment, he said. More specifically, there is a $7,”506 reduction for legal and litigation associated with the Zoning Board, he said, because the board has not seen any litigation. There is also a 25 percent reduction in the amount of time for meetings.
With regard to the Planning Board, Surtees said the budget reflects an increase in consultant fees related to the Grover’s Mill historic district work, and also for the re-examination report.
Additional funding was requested by Planning Board Attorney Gerald Muller for certain items including a $52,”500 increase in the legal budget. InterCap Holdings brought against the township regarding the zoning of its 25 acres of property on Washington Road.
During the budget meeting, Ken Carlson, of the West Windsor Bicycle and Pedestrian Alliance, urged council to increase the amount budgeted for bicycle and pedestrian-related improvements to roads and walkways around town from $25,”000 to $200,”000.
Carlson said that the WWBPA estimated that it would cost at least $200,”000 to take care of the first 11 priorities in the organization’s list of intersection improvements.
Council President Charles Morgan said he felt traffic calming was needed badly. “We need to be putting in speed bumps, and it ought to be done development-by-development, and it ought to be done in connection with this,” he said.
The council members talked about adding some amount, enough to at least get the studies for the road improvements completed.
The proposed $36.39 million municipal budget this year reflects no new positions in the township government, but state-mandated pension costs and a hit to the amount of money the township received in state aid this year have made it tough for budgeting. The budget includes $8.8 million in revenue and $2.8 million in state aid — down from last year’s $2.93 million.
According to the West Windsor administration, the total expenditures in the 2009 budget have been reduced to the $36.4 million budget from $36.7 million, originally proposed. In 2008, the total budget was $35.4 million. The 2.71 percent increase is the lowest annual increase West Windsor has seen in the past 15 years, said Chief Financial Officer Joanne Louth.
The tax rate in the 2009 municipal budget has increased by 1.7 cents to 33.09 cents per $100 of assessed valuation, and the amount to be raised by taxation is $20.6 million. Under the proposal as it is, the owner of the average assessed township home at $549,”345 would pay $1,”818.33 in municipal taxes this year, and increase of $93.39 over last year’s average $1,”724.94, Louth said. Of that increase to the tax rate, Louth said, half a penny — or $27.42 of the increase on an average house – on the tax rate is a direct result of the loss in state aid and the increase in state-mandated pension costs – two factors over which the township has no control. Further, that means that $27.42 of the $93.39 increase is a result of an increase imposed by the state.
