As one who has lived in and paid taxes on the same house in West Windsor for more than 50 years, I have trouble sympathizing with Mr. Baxter (letter June 26), who presents yet one more exposition on the evils of “fat-laden” and “wasteful” budgets and rising municipal taxes — without giving even one example of what he means by fat or waste. I’m no fan of higher taxes either, but if his facts were more accurate and his ideas truly new, I would take his points more seriously. But his facts are questionable and his suggestions old hat, so what else is new?
In the last eight years the West Windsor municipal tax rate has gone from 47 cents per hundred in 2002 to 33 cents per hundred for 2009. Although that’s a decrease in the rate, you have to take into account the reevaluation of 2005-6, which resulted, for many owners, in at least a doubling of the assessed value of their property. My assessed value increased by a factor of 2.26. The overall effect on my municipal tax for the eight years from 2002 to 2009 is an increase of just under 60 percent — nowhere near the 100 percent claimed by Mr. Baxter.
Now, 60 percent is by no means trivial, even over an eight-year period, but it’s not surprising in a community that continues to grow residentially as West Windsor has for the past several decades. That’s why I do agree with Mr. Baxter on the probable negative tax consequences of further residential development in the so-called “redevelopment” plan. If it were not for the success of the open space preservation program over the past decade, things would be even worse, with at least another 1,500 acres of residential development by now.
As for his other points — zero-based budgeting, shared or regionalized services, exclusivity of use and inspection fees, etc. — some or most of this has already been done the way he suggests for many years, or, when tried, has been found to be either more expensive or unworkable. Even in those ancient times of the 1960s, ’70s, and ’80s, we routinely used zero-based budgeting for the local school budget — believe it or not. And when, for example, we tried contracting out school bus service to a regional provider (in response to public suggestions) we found it to be more expensive than owning and operating our own buses.
Many of the factors that affect the cost of our municipal services are a byproduct of the way the state is organized, with around 600 separate municipalities and school districts in one of the smallest states in area. You can’t point your finger at the local government about a lack of shared or regionalized services if your neighbors or the state as a whole won’t see the benefits or help support the idea. Townships, boroughs, and school districts have talked about changing the status quo on this for decades, but there’s no solution in sight. Home rule wins out every time.
by Richard S. Snedeker
