East Windsor Council Passes Budget, Raising Taxes

The East Windsor Township Council adopted the 2011 municipal budget Tuesday evening.

The council the $20.2 million budget March 22, up from $19.8 million in 2010. The new budget will raise the local tax rate 1.5 cents per $100 of assessed home value, to 39.8 cents. This means that for an owner of a residence at the average property value assessment in East Windsor, $264,000, there will now be a tax increase of $39.60. Their annual tax bill will be about $1,051.72, higher than last year but lower than the property tax cap set by the state.

“The municipal component [in East Windsor] is among one of the lowest rates in the area,” said Mayor Janice Mironov.

Mayor Mironov spoke of the council's hard efforts with the budget, saying that there were “serious challenges” the council had to face while formulating it.

One hurdle was that the tax base has decreased by almost $14 million in 2011. “Our fund balance has seen a dramatic decrease in recent years,” Mayor Mironov said, adding that in the past three years, it has decreased by $3.5 million.

The largest challenge in expenditures for the budget is the increase in pension payments as ordered by the state. There was a $530,000 increase this year.

The mayor said she was passionate about the issue of the state withholding the energy tax receipts that they have collected from the previous year’s taxes. There is a fundamental difference between the state and the township in terms of tax collection, she said. While the municipality sends out the tax bill, less than 15 percent of the tax bill stays with the municipal government. The state uses a large portion for its own use instead of giving it back to the state’s municipalities.

According to Mayor Mironov, East Windsor lost $905,000 in 2010 from the state withholding these receipts.

The council also passed a resolution calling on the governor and state legislature to end state diversion of municipal revenues and demand compliance with state laws. Council Member Perry Shapiro spoke out on this issue. “They take our money and then attack us for not living within our means,” Shapiro said.

This article was updated at 10:52 p.m. to reflect that the township keeps 15 percent of the tax bill it sends out, not 50 percent as previously stated.