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Politics & Government

Cranbury Committee Approves $1.36 Million in Capital Improvements

The work will be paid out of existing funds and will not raise taxes, officials said.

The Cranbury Township Committee voted 5-0 Monday to authorize spending $1.36 million on capital improvements using surplus moneys, the capital improvement fund and existing capital ordinances. This means the township will be able to utilize money from those funds to replace pistols for the police department, order police mobile radios, conduct work on the Brainerd Lake Dam and order computers.

Of the money, $1.02 million will be taken from existing capital, $250,000 from the township’s capital surplus fund and $84,000 from the capital improvement fund to cover the cost of the items and programs.

“I am very pleased with the capital ordinance,” said Mayor Winthrop Cody. “We were able to fund existing capital projects from existing cash accounts without requiring to increase Cranbury’s debt. Last year our capital ordinance was mostly funded by new debt.”

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Committee member Jay Taylor said each year the township looks to tap into the surplus for the capital budget. “I’m very comfortable with the way we’ve appropriated the money,” Taylor said. “We didn’t take on any new notes or bonds and made sure that we are not taking on any new debt.”

Taylor said that this capital improvement plan will be cost-neutral to tax payers and that taxes will not be increased.

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The capital ordinance adopted Monday night includes projects and items from various departments. Once the money is spendable on July 18 it will be up to each department to prioritize its purchases.

Since the committee decided to issue an ordinance for a portion of the Brainerd Lake Dam project, rather than the estimated full amount, the township was able to use existing ordinances in conjunction with capital surplus to fund this year’s capital ordinance, according to Township Administrator Denise Marabello.

Pursuing the Brainerd Lake Dam ordinance in stages gives the township the opportunity to postpone incurring further debt, Marabello said.

 “The Township Committee members, as well as the department heads administering these capital projects, have done a wonderful job of managing the spending so that there were funds available in existing ordinances to pay for the new capital items,” she said. “In a time when money is tight Cranbury is fortunate to have the ability to manage their present debt due to the sound fiscal practices of the past.”

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