Notice of the Township Committee special budget meeting on January 21, 2012

[emale]

Notice of the Township Committee special budget meeting on January 21, 2012 has been posted.

http://www.cranburytownship.org/TC-Documents/2012/Special_Budget_Meeting_012112.pdf

The January 21, 2012 Township Committee meeting agenda has been posted.

http://www.cranburytownship.org/TC-Documents/2012/TC_Agenda012112.pdf

[enough]

[Tax payer]

A better question is are you going to show up and offer input? The TC members I have spoken with have been trying to drum up attendance so people can offer input and so residents can learn about how the economy has hurt the town financially. Our town is bleeding from all the tax appeals reducing the tax revenue and this has been the case since 2007. It's great my assessed value decreased, but so did a whole host of warehouses and other properties.

I can say I won't go because I do trust their expertise. They pay taxes too and my gut knowing all 5 is that they do what they can to keep costs in check before raising taxes.

[No New Taxes]

[guestguest]

[Tax payer]

I am not expecting them to go up. However, I understand that there are only so many cuts that can be made as property values on the tax roll keeps falling then tax rates have to increase just to keep revenue constant. I also understand that because the rate increases it does not necessarily mean my taxes go up either. My home was reassessed last year and the two cent tax increase last year still had me paying less then the year before.

I hope and expect the TC to do what they can to operate the town on less. When speaking with them they all seem to want residents to be part of the process. I want long term stability more than a year with no tax increase followed by a 10 cent increase as I experienced in a prior town. So I guess my view is that if property values fall and the value that one penny on the rate brings in falls as well then as long as the TC is open, looks for cuts and looks for resident input then I am okay. As I know 4 members personally I am confident that is the case and will not attend. However, for those who are concerned then by all means attend and help them make the cuts.

[Bend Over]

4. LOSAP – Give maximum
5. Police – Operating and Capital Plan
6. Preliminary Discussion of Revenues, Surplus and Tax Rate
7. Salary Merit Program
7. Operating Budgets with Increases in Expenses
8. Discuss Budget Introduction and Approval Dates

From what I see in the agenda which was posted I do not see anything which says discuss cuts to spending.

All I see is "Increase in Expenses", "Give Maximum", "Salary Merit" "Tax Rate".

We better all get ready to bend over and get ready to take the big one from the tax man.

[guest again]

[Tax payer]

[Robert Peters]

Reading the posts let me say I agree with two statements-

1) In a down economic situation like we have rateables decrease and therefore major cuts and/or tax increases have to be made and major cuts do not always mean taxes still do not increase.

2) I have faith that at least Dave and Jay and I believe the others are able to look at the financial situation and make cuts first before they look at the tax increase. Another poster mentioned the police contract. I went through the meeting notes and saw the October 10th agreement. Let's compare Cranbury to Jamesburg which just settled and has an article in last week's Cranbury Press (www.cranburypress.com). According to the notes, Dave and Jay did this negotiation so I think this has some bearing on how they approach the tax situation for 2012.

Length
Cranbury 5 years (settled prior to expiration and deal ends in 2016)
Jamesburg 4 years (worked without a deal in 2011 so ends in 2014)


Salary raises
Jamesburg- 1% increase 2011, 2.75% 2012, 2% increase 2013, 1.75% 2014.

Cranbury- .995% increase 2012, 0.7% increase 2013, 1.91% increase 2014, 2% increase in years 2015 & 2016.

- two years under 1% and the highest years cap at 2%.

What that shows me is that Dave and Jay worked together with the FOP to negotiate a very good contract and do look to save costs not necessarily do the easy route.

So I agree with Tax payer who says that while we may have a tax increase they have confidence in the TC and the other poster(s) who said the biggest factor is declining property values.

I don't think our TC will look to increase taxes or costs. However, whether taxes go up may ultimately be beyond their control given the loss of revenue and mandated costs.

I will say I am thinking of showing up to offer comments. What I am interested in is to see if there are enough major cuts that can be made, what will our town be like if they are made, and is the value of a 1 or 2 cent increase to me worth cuts that may impact public safety or other events and programs that made me want to move here. To save 1 cent (about 300.00 for me) and lose our town's character is not worth it to me.

[Bent Over]

[Tax payer]

I don't know if Robert will take the bait, but I will. I'll take your bait as you only seem to want to cause issues.

Tell me what do you value in the town? Would you want to lose it or pay more to keep it if those were your choices. Do you value a fire company or first aid squad? What about having our parks? People complain about chipping and leaf collection. Stopping that is a major cut. We can make it like trash and force people to hire landscapers to take brush away. Those are the types if major cuts we will need to see.

I look at it this way, I have a high def TV my parents do not. They don't see 1,000 for a TV as worth it and watch their old 25" set. I find I like watching programs in high def and 42". So I look at taxes as does an increase mean I keep what I value. If you don't value any services then it's easy to cut everything. That is not most people I know. I moved here because our town has one of the lowest property taxes if not the lowest and still provides decent value.

Further, you continue the inflammatory language. In the past 4 years we have had one year with a tax increase and it was 2 cents. If you want to really fight waste and taxes go to the state and county. If you want lower local taxes go to the BOE. Our municipal taxes are the least of the issue.

[Really Bent Over]

[Tax payer]

Where did I say that? All you're doing is flaming. you haven't shown any facts that the TC will not make cuts or look to raise taxes as a first issue. You have not offered any cuts. All evidence shows the TC is looking hard at finances.

I was pretty clear that I feel the TC will look to make cuts and trust them. You do not trust them. So go to the meeting hear what they say, see where the tax revenue is with no increase vs last year then make suggestions. If you still disagree run for office.

Further, tell me why the TC would want to raise the taxes when it goes against their own personal interests. No one willingly wants to pay more taxes.

[Grabbing my ankles]

[oh boy]