Editor’s note: The letter excerpted below was sent from Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh to all West Windsor taxpayers.
Enclosed please find your 2013 property tax bill. There will be an overall municipal tax “reduction” of 0.4 cents per $100 of assessed valuation for 2013.
The administration and township council recommended and voters approved a one cent reduction in the municipal open space tax from 3 cents to 2 cents for the 2013 tax year. The 2013 operating budget for the township general fund provides $37,301,500 of expenditures. After subtracting revenue received from state agencies, fees, interest, licenses, etc., a total of $22,681,414 is the amount to be raised by taxation. This municipal tax levy is a 1.8 percent increase over 2012 and within the state-mandated cap. The municipal tax rate is 38 cents in 2013, which reflects an increase of 0.6 cents over 2012.
The municipal budget represents approximately 15 percent of the total tax bill and is the only portion of the tax bill that the mayor and township council can directly control. This 15 percent covers all the municipal services provided to residents. The remaining 85 percents is used to pay for regional schools, county and library taxes, and open space acquisition and preservation.
West Windsor continues to experience a lot of development activity. The Windsor Plaza (old Acme site) is filled with new businesses including Jake’s Wayback Burgers, Jimmy John’s sandwiches, Fill Yo Cup yogurt, and Yoga Soul. PJ’s Pancake House should be next to open. Chipotle Grill and Pei Wei have opened at the Square at West Windsor (near Lowe’s and Trader Joe’s). Qdoba and Bobby’s Burger Palace have opened at MarketFair, where major renovations are ongoing to bring a Bahama Breeze and Seasons 52.
Major renovations are also ongoing at the Hyatt Regency Hotel on Route 1. A new three-story office building is going up in Carnegie Center. The new commuter parking lot on Alexander Road is nearing completion. We continue to explore the purchase of remaining undeveloped tracts of land in West Windsor. We received a commitment of $825,000 from the NJ DEP Green Acres for reimbursement of open space purchases.
We continue to provide services with the same staffing level as in past years and we continue to maintain our AAA Standard & Poor’s rating as a financially sound municipality.
We look forward to serving you this coming year and thank you for your continued support.
Shing-Fu Hsueh
Mayor, West Windsor Township
