The East Windsor Mayor and Council conducted a special meeting on Tuesday overviewing the 2013 budget with several municipal departments, including the Township Court and Police Department.

The meeting gave the municipal departments an opportunity to make budget requests and for the Council to ask questions about the itemized budgets submitted by each department. The Council is meeting with all of the Township departments and agencies and reviewing all of the proposed expenditures for the 2013 budget, Mayor Janice Mironov said.

The East Windsor Court did not receive DWI funds from the state because less than 113 DWI’s occurred in the prior year; according to state law, 113 DWI arrests must be made in a municipality in order for the town to receive DWI funds.

Nevertheless, Mironov said that all department costs are coming in relatively level and stable, but there are portions of the budget which the Council has less control over, such as health benefits.

Since 2010, East Windsor has received their group health insurance through the State Health Benefits Program. This year, the State Health Benefits Program is requiring larger contributions of at least $200,000 as the state has certified a 9.2 percent increase on the entire program, Mironov said. Therefore, East Windsor will see a net increase in group health insurance costs from 2012 to 2013 of approximately $200,000 from $2,103,988 in the 2012 budget to
$2,302,500 in the 2013 budget, Mironov explained.

Other areas of the budget that have increased for 2013 are also out of the Township’s control. These include the state billed increase in pensions of $117,000 and the state mandated formula for the Reserve for Uncollected Taxes, which is expected to increase an estimated $250,000, according to the mayor.

The 2013 budget is still under review and nothing has been finalized, according to Mironov. When the final numbers are in the Council will determine what is inside the cap and what is outside of the cap, Mironov said. 

Currently, the revenues and the tax valuation of the Township is being finalized. When the full budget proposal is complete it will be presented to the public around mid-March, at which time all issues will be addressed.