Princeton Borough Adopts Budget with No Tax Hike

For the fourth year in a row, the Borough Council has adopted a spending plan that does not include a municipal tax increase.

The Borough’s budget, the final budget before the two Princetons consolidate, represents about 22 percent of the total tax bill. The county portion is about a quarter and school taxes make up about half your tax bill.

Borough Administrator Bob Bruschi characterized the $26.5 million budget as a conservative one that paves the way for the transition to the new Princeton. The budget increase is $596,000 over last year’s budget. The tax levy is $10.3 million.

The Borough municipal tax rate is 43.1 cents per $100 of assessed property value. The owner of a home assessed at $750,000 will pay $3,232 in municipal taxes this year.

Bruschi said the Borough anticipates ending the year with a surplus of at least $4.9 million.

“That’s a nice dowry to bring to the new Princeton,” he said.

The budget includes $50,000 for a transit study and $50,000 for a traffic study. The budget for legal fees is up $66,000 and insurance fees went up $320,000. The budget for the Princeton Public Library increased by $75,562. Salary and benefits represented $35,000 of the library budget increase, and the other $41,000 was for maintenance and building repair expenses.

Revenue includes $1.5 million in parking fees, $3.4 million in sewer charges, and $1.2 million in court fees. Princeton University’s payment in lieu of taxes increased by $520,000. That amount covered all but $76,000 of the increased expenses in this year’s budget.