Robbinsville Township Council recently adopted the 2025 municipal budget, a $32.3 million spending plan that marks the final budget under Mayor Dave Fried’s administration.
The budget continues a trend that has defined much of Fried’s tenure, delivering the township’s 11th flat or reduced municipal tax rate in the last 14 years.
At 57.7 cents per $100 of assessed value, Robbinsville’s rate remains unchanged from 2023 and 2024, despite rising costs in areas such as health insurance, pensions, utilities and snow removal.
“Robbinsville continues to do all it can to keep the municipal side of taxes stable in the face of rising rates elsewhere,” Fried said in a statement following the vote. “Doing all of this without a municipal tax increase was no small feat, but it is something we are extremely proud of.”
Fried, who announced in March he will not seek reelection in November, has served as mayor for more than 20 years. Under his leadership, the township emphasized long-term planning, fiscal restraint, and strategic investment in infrastructure and public services.
The 2025 budget includes funding for major initiatives, including road improvements, the continued renovation of the township’s future municipal complex at 2300 Route 33, the in-house transition of EMS services, and the construction of a mile-long trail at Miry Run.
According to Fried, the township is on track to begin moving staff into the new municipal building by the end of the year.
Earlier this year, prior to the budget’s official adoption, Fried sat down for a wide-ranging conversation about Robbinsville’s financial philosophy, upcoming projects, and the legacy he hopes to leave behind.
In the following Q&A, which has been lightly edited for clarity and length, Fried talks about the township finances, problems with utility franchises, and cannabis businesses in the town.
Township finance
Robbinsville Advance: What are your thoughts about the township’s financial situation?
Mayor Dave Fried: Right now, it’s looking pretty good, and I’m pleased. We’ve been very lucky the past few years.
Every year, the way we budget in Robbinsville—we don’t just think about the current year. We’re always thinking ahead—planning for next year. That long-term mindset really helps us manage the budget. We’ve got a pretty good year coming up.
Robbinsville Advance: Are you concerned that increasing home values and decreasing commercial assessments will shift more of the burden onto residential taxpayers?
Fried: Yeah, that’s a concern. Robbinsville continues to be an incredibly desirable place to live. We now have the fastest growing property values in Mercer County. We used to be behind Hopewell, but we’ve passed them. We’ve passed West Windsor. Now we’re slugging it out with Princeton.
If you told me 20 years ago that I’d be competing with Princeton in home values, I would’ve laughed you out of the room. But here we are.
That growth is a blessing. But we want to make sure we keep some affordable housing stock, so we don’t just become a town of multimillion-dollar homes. We’re trying to keep that balance by adding some apartments and 55-and-over housing.
I don’t want our seniors to have to leave. You’ve got people whose kids grown up and left and they have a big empty house, but they don’t want to leave the community. Where do they go?
Utilities and Franchises
Robbinsville Advance: I know Optimum/Altice was looking to renew its cable television franchise agreement with the township this year. You’ve said that you have some issues with the state Board of Public Utilities (BPU) and how they handle these things. Can you talk about that? (Franchise agreements grant a utility company exclusive rights to operate within a specific municipality. This means that only that company is authorized to provide a particular type of utility service—such as electricity, gas, or cable—to residents and businesses in that town. The agreements are regulated by the BPU)
Fried: The BPU just might be the most ridiculous organization on the planet. Here is what they do year in and year out: You go to the BPU and you complain, and you tell them that the provider is doing a bad job and they hear you. Then the provider comes in and says, “You’re right, we are doing a bad job, and if you give us more money, we’ll do a better job.” And the BPU goes, “okay,” and they give them more money.
Then they come in a year later, rinse and repeat. And then the following year or two, rinse and repeat. And then another year or two after that, rinse and repeat. Why would the utility ever do a good job if all they’re going to do is get more money for doing a bad job?
It’s the same with the electric companies. How many times have I gone to the BPU to piss and moan about JCP&L (Jersey Central Power and Light), and all they ever do is give them more money. And CEO makes more money, too. So what incentive is there to ever do a good job?
If you came to me and said, “Hey, you know the town thinks you’re a terrible mayor. And I said, “Yeah, but if you double my salary, I’ll do better.” If you do that for 20 years, what’s my incentive to actually do a good job?
Robbinsville Advance: A section of Robbinsville—including where I live—is lucky, because Verizon installed Fios lines there. In those areas Altice actually has some competition, and those residents can call up every year and threaten to cancel and switch to FIOS. And Altice says, “Well, we’ve got this special deal for you,” and they slash the rate in half.
Fried: You’re 100% right. They do.
Robbinsville Advance: Meanwhile, I have a friend in Hamilton where there’s no competition. She tries to do the same thing, and Altice tells her to go pound sand.
Fried: Right. There’s no place else to go.
Robbinsville Advance: There’s something to be said about competition and they don’t have it in Hamilton when it comes to cable service.
Fried: It’s a shame.
Robbinsville Advance: Wasn’t the township part of a lawsuit against Altice to try to force them to make some improvements? Whatever came of that?
Fried: We’ve sued Altice. We’ve sued JCP&L. And again, the BPU just lets them off the hook every time. You go through the process, and they say, “Don’t worry, we’ve got this.” And their big idea is to give them some more money. The only thing Altice and JCP&L are really good at is getting rate increases. They’re fantastic at it. Exceptional.
Robbinsville Advance: It makes you wonder about the people at the BPU and whose side they’re on.
Fried: It really is amazing. I got yelled at by the head of the BPU one year—the year we got hit by Sandy—because I had the audacity to yell at JCP&L.
They didn’t have any people working at the site (where there was a problem) I called the president of JCP&L, who then called the head of the BPU, who then called me to yell at me and tell me I was interfering with the work they were doing on the site. That I was interfering with people and needed to get my people off the site.
All I did was send a police car there to use the police camera so we could send a date and time stamped video to show that there was no one there. I said to the head of the BPU, “I’d love to have interfered with your people—but that would require there being people on the site, which is why we were filming.”
Cannabis licensing
Robbinsville Advance: The township recently amended its rules regarding cannabis businesses. What types are now permitted, and in which areas of the township?
Fried: We’re not allowing retail. We’re not going there yet. But I will tell you, my position on cannabis has absolutely, positively changed. When it first came out, I was against it. But as I’ve watched what’s happening with it, I’ve changed.
Take policing, for instance. About 90% of the challenges with policing in town are alcohol-related. I get nothing—nothing—from marijuana. Almost no calls. But when you look at assault, sexual assault, fights, batteries, domestic violence—almost 70 to 80% of those are alcohol-related. But with cannabis, we just don’t see those problems.
That really changed my position. It’s similar to our CARE program (Community Addiction Recovery Effort) and heroin. They dragged me into that kicking and screaming, but it turned out to be absolutely the right thing to do. I can get behind it now. It’s better to get someone into treatment than put them in prison.
So, I’ve evolved on this. I’m seeing the benefits. I’m not quite there for retail yet, though, because we don’t have a great place in town to do it.
Robbinsville Advance: There aren’t really any commercial locations that aren’t near schools or residential areas.
Fried: Exactly. We might have one in a very remote spot—maybe out by Allentown near the warehouse park by Route 195. There’s no housing anywhere around there. Maybe that could be a spot for it. But not in Town Center or Foxmoor.
Growing and manufacturing businesses, though? I think that makes sense. And turning our warehouses—which we’re great at—into potentially growing or manufacturing facilities might be okay. I was originally against it because of the smell—those manufacturing facilities used to release a strong odor. But now, with the new air scrubbers, they don’t smell anymore. That’s evolved too.
So, I’ve moved on this a little bit. I was probably a hard “no” early on, and I’ve slowly shifted over time.
Robbinsville Advance: The good thing about allowing growing and manufacturing businesses is that the township collects a tax at every level, right? So, after it goes from growing to manufacturing, you collect tax on that. And then if it moves to distribution, you get a tax there too.
Fried: It’s real (good) revenue. They’re seeing real revenue in some of the other towns. So yeah, I agree with you.
And if you go to some of these dispensaries, you’ll see every walk of life. I’ve sat in the parking lot just to get an idea of the consumer base, and it’s fascinating. You’ve got everything from grandmothers to 20-year-olds—it really is a unique cross-section.
Robbinsville Mayor Dave Fried.,
