Playing numbers games

Officials in East Brunswick have taken steps to ensure that township residents do not see an increase in their municipal taxes this year. And that will likely come as a relief to most people, whose property tax bills have already been pumped up enough year after year due to the school tax component.

While we applaud the exploration of any means possible to avoid a tax hike, questions are being raised about the methods used by the governing body in East Brunswick with regard to the 2004 budget.

In preparing the budget several months back, Mayor William Neary proposed the use of $4 million from a developer to cover a deficit in the municipal budget. The developer, Toll Brothers, has been in negotiations to buy township-owned property along Route 18 where stores including Sam’s Club and a township park-and-ride are located.

Toll Brothers offered East Brunswick approximately $30 million for the property in submitting a formal proposal early this year, and though the proposal remained in negotiations this fall, the use of a portion of the anticipated revenue made sense to most in charge at Town Hall, as it would prevent a potential 20-cent increase in the municipal tax rate.

However, the use of those funds was questioned by political foes of the mayor from the get-go. Some expressed the concern that using the developer’s money would cost the township leverage in ongoing negotiations to sell the Route 18 site.

This week, however, officials changed gears and announced they will not use the builder’s money, and will instead transfer funds given to East Brunswick by the county for the purchase of the Heavenly Farms tract on Cranbury Road. Those funds would have otherwise been invested for a period of months, earning the township interest during that time.

Again the question must be asked as to whether this is an appropriate use of funds in the budget. As we see it, the move still saves taxes from going up, and it makes more sense than using money from a builder sitting down with the town to negotiate a property sale.

We’re sure that a builder will buy the Route 18 site from the town soon and create a windfall of revenue. We would just suggest that officials continue to keep the taxpayer in mind and return those millions of dollars to them in the form of tax relief when such a sale does occur.