of Township every like yeah we haven't we we approv something Mone money for that and we hav fin that no we to bring yeah we on the yes it's on our
to order the countship Town Township Council uh Workshop meeting on the municipal budget for 2025 um uh can you please call the RO go here Jers here Mandel here we here
Whitfield here and have we adequately noticed yes we were adequately noticed on February 21st 2025 to the times in the Princeton packet filed with the municipal clerk and posted at the municipal building and the township website please stand for
the salute to the flag United States thank you at this point I'm going to uh turn the meeting over to John water to um tell us about the revenues and other summaries on the budget thank
you good morning um John motor CFO if uh you could turn to the revenue tab page 66 and we can go over our revenues for 2024 okay I'm just I'm going to go over some of the highlighted um my highlighted
areas that we um we experienced over 2024 um and then you can ask any questions and and I'll gladly answer them um so is everybody on page 66
yes the first letter is just a breakdown of each category something that we've historically done um I did note on page 64 that I took out the swim pool fees for next year the three-year average is no longer being used it's actual Revenue
okay okay um okay so if we start on page 66 I want to highlight um as you can see there's a column that it says 2024 realize revenues and that's the actual
money that that we received um during the operations for 2024 um I'm going to start um other fees and permits are strong everything all our revenues are are are coming back strong since covid um we're still con
being kind of conservative with our anticipated revenues because remember we do use fund balance as a revenue item and there's only a couple ways to generate fund balance and one of them that is excess revenues so we need to be conservative in our anticipation so we
can replenish our font balance and continue to operate in the future without major um spikes in the tax rate and the state regulates how conservative we have to be to some extent yeah yes yes
um so our fees and permits are looking good our licenses are looking good the municipal court has also bounced back from a couple hundred thousand to now it's over to 500,000 which has historically been their revenue um interest and cost and taxes are um
pretty much stays around that two two to 300,000 range um we you know we have a very low delinquent rate in the town um this is the big one um um with the help Administration we went out and did rfps
at the end of 2023 and we had eight um banks give us um proposals and um because of the competition um we got a really good deal on our um investment income and interest so our interest income has um gone from around 800,000
to 2.6 million since 2023 um which is a mostly from our carrying balances a little more because of the um increases on other levies and
the um deal that we were able to broker for going out for rfps um so I I did bump that up 300,000 because I still anticipate a strong interest income for 2025 but it's still
less than half of what we've been anticipating so even if Vance rates do drop we should be fine um the Princeton University that's a year by year one on the bottom and we don't yes we are um that agreement had
expired and we are process of negotiating a new deal so it probably won't be ready for this budget cycle um but once it it is finalized we can anticipate it for next year okay well we should I would think we would not get less than what they've
been no because they have expanded their footprint correct yeah I mean so at some point this could be put would be put back for the SE yeah what what once the agreement is done it will go into a reserve account on the balance sheet
um because it's specific for that agreement so then then we would anticipate it the following year in the budget like we had done in the past so this money will be set aside once we do have an agreement with Princeton and once we do have an agreement um um you
know we'll inform you and let you know where we're at with all that okay we have met twice so we're waiting for another meeting with the Princeton Representatives okay um and the other major category that
really increased is the uniform construction code fees as we all know so um we're still you know I did bump that a little bit 200,000 but as you can see it's pretty low because that that historically we've been anywhere
between two and three mil um so I feel comfortable leaving at 2 million just in case um you know we start to slow down a little bit you know you never know so you don't want to you a couple million dollars a tax rate for the town is a little over
600,000 so for every 600,000 we have to make up that's a penny um so we're just being conservative um last year was crazy year it was very crazy and I think this year we're probably you know when my con conversations with construction
we're probably hit over three maybe three and a half you know it seems to be trending so is that money primarily for for permits correct permits but then again you have to remember it's a two-year cycle bleed down on most projects especially the bigger ones so
we may collect the money in 24 but we'll do inspections for two years so we have to pay Staffing you know to go out and do those inspections even though we collect the money up front so this there's an obligation with these correct and that's why you try to
be conservative on what you anticipate because you know that Revenue will stop but you're still going to have to provide the services for the revenue that you did already collect could you comment on the um sewer connection fees sure real big
difference between there is because that fluctuate from year to year and historically I don't like to if if I had my choice I wouldn't even have it in here okay because it fluctuates that much as a finance person I like something a little more level because of
the construction the hookup cost this is the hookup cost okay so um to hook up to our service system it's a one time hookup yeah and this money that we receive helps to offset our construction cost for Capital got it okay I would
imagine in 24 that was significant for like winds are squared corre there's a and we're probably getting a pretty good chunk this year also when Avalon starts coming online you know yeah so um that
and so that money is basically through the way we do our financing will help offset the some of the construction cost for the sewer right and then down the road we have higher maintenance fees because all that sewer is connected so so I don't like to use that as a revenue
item we we you know in the past have put a small amount just as a placeholder but so um I do not recommend increasing that yeah as you can see our hotel tax is also increased um you
know yeah even though we lost the hotel so that means the um the rate the occupation rates are pretty good you know I think that's a Wawa now that used to be a hotel right oh yeah that was a Palmer hotel needed some work right
right now we have a WWA we're getting a Chick-fil-A yeah yeah lot of excitement a lot of people people are like hey go you know like you know just give them the permits they say no we can't do that okay as you can
see our cable vision our cable television franchise fees are are slowly going down it's historically you know as people cut the cord that fee will continue to um get lower and lower every year and more
people um and New Jersey Governor's budget that he proposed um they had given us 228,000 last year from Municipal Relief Fund Aid which was some extra Aid that they had given us that is not in this year's budget from the governor's office yep yep I've heard
that okay um let's see and that that's actually our money so they're giving us less back of our own correct correct because they we're probably short two million a year when you do deployment but we've tried that
for 15 years and it's kind of gotten us nowhere we did get some for a couple years um but now that's that's dried up um let's see um okay so our amount to be raise is
actually going down 235,000 even though our tax rate is staying at zero because we're absorbing that loss so Revenue mostly with fund bounce more anticipated as you see on the page 66 are fund balce we increased by $3
million soon in in a couple minutes I'll go over what our fund balance is and where we ended up at the end of 2024 but I still feel comfortable anticipating an extra $3 million of support this budget um the reason for the amount to be
raised being lowered is our overall tax assessment went down last year because of some appeals for um office complexes all right so we've been getting a little bit of that each year hopefully that levels off in the next
year or two uh the good news is we got a lot of new assessments coming on in the next two to three years to help soften eff or um possibly um allow us to increase our assess value um by the way when you mentioned
the pool yes so the number on page 64 is now yes that number is actual uh receipts not so 342 yes okay so it's just the description of it the change
correct yes just the description it's not the three-year average I forgot to take that out that's the ACT yep the pulls up about 50 gram from the prior year um so it's it's it's also coming back okay our next category um fund balance so if you go to page
supplemental information information Tab and it would be page 69 okay at the um beginning of 2024 the township had a fund balance of $18.2 million through um results of operations
for 2024 and that's basically all our revenues all our expenditures and you come out with a net amount um we um had an excess results of operations of 15 million 600,000 but prior year it was 10.6 million so that
extra 5 million most of it was from construction and the interest income and some couple other minor um line items resulting in a fund balance at the end of 2024 of 23, 400,000 in
change um of that we anticipate 13.42% for future use um and replenishment remember we use 13 million for fund balance um we we have to
replace that and one of the there's only three ways of doing that Appropriations tax levy or revenues so you have you know I do a fiveyear projection to try to keep that figure to a certain percentage of our overall
revenues and our overall budget it's part of my stand standard and pores um review that I do in November for our rating so um I feel comfortable with this figure um and I'm and I think we shouldn't have a problem regen
regenerating fund balance in 2025 our revenues are still looking good even in the two months that we've been operating the trends are good any questions on fund balance so we're going to carry after after we use for that fund
balance for the budget each year we'll have 10 million always take out yeah we'll have 10 10 million rough left so the worst case is as a finance officer I look at if if we had a crash in our revenues right we use 13 million this
year we had 10 so we would only have to generate an extra three million just to be where we needed to be to get through one more year so you could soften the blow if over two to threeyear period versus a one-year period That's when towns get in trouble um is when you
don't anticipate the worst case scenario and have a reserve and then you get all hit in one year um so the worst case scenarios if we did not hit our Revenue projections then um we could could yeah we could use this plus that and then we
was we would have to have a slight increase this year next year a slight increase following year versus cut big increase you know it's just the plan and you know the town's always been very conservative when it came to their fund balance I know what one time it was a very debatable issue but it kind of got
us through covid so I'm looking at like 2001 through 2000 yes it's like we were right on the hairy Edge there yeah yeah we were we were yeah okay okay um the next item I like to go
over is the cap Bank ordinance just a quick summary I will provide council with a detailed memo and Analysis when I do give you the ordinance because it is the recommendation that we pass it again um excuse me what page that is not anywhere this is just like a discussion
I will have okay that's that that information I'll give to you when we do the ordinance okay um if you recall back in 2023 is when we really had a big crunch in the um um cap ordinance uh cap Bank uh we were
down to 9,2 and change and that's all we had and historically we always carried 8 to 900,000 um we were we were able to get through that year we didn't have to cut Services we didn't have to raise
taxes in 2024 we were able to carry 98,000 so between the two of them we built up a a bank Bank of 107,000 this year I'm recommending that you also approve the ordinance which would give me an extra 1% which is
382,000 the good news is with the new constructions the divisional local government allows us to do what they call an assessor certifi certification additions for new construction so all this new ratables that come in they understand that our budget have to go up
to provide more services so they give us this one-time increase this year that increases 1, 39,000 so after all the calculations and our total operating budget and you approve the
cake ordinance we will be able to carry into next year for the next two years roughly 762 th000 so we are now at a point where we can build back up our cap a little and of course we can't spend that without action by Council you know
and that would be a budget amendment we have never done that since i' I've been associated with the town for 35 years so we've never had to actually do that um so so you're um you're saying they're
giving us a one time 1, 39,000 that's to the regular cap because we're get a lot bigger so yes and they and and the legislators did put this into their their law to allow towns that have
growth and then that stays there forever uh no yes it's part of the base correct it's part of the base and so we'll have we'll have I think it's two and a half% is two and a half% is is what they determine we can do without an ordance
1% which is 382,000 and then on top of that we can add the one million which is an automa the only optional thing we actually vote on is the extra 1% 382 correct yep very good Andrea
any questions on the C bag yeah just explain it when I will to the public like in layman's terms so yeah always been pictures are good we'll try it's not an easy concept I think the
confusion is that the the word cap is me used for a lot of different things so people think of that as capital think it's other and then the word bank people think of it as actual money and where it isn't it's it's the option to spend money at some later dat correct so I
think if those Concepts got explained yeah and and what throws the real confusion is everybody sees the 2% Levy cap so they assume that's the cap we're speaking and it's not there's two caps there's an appropriation cap that goes back to 1977 which tried to radi in expenditures
and then there's the levic cap which is what the the what you charge the the taxpayers on on the amount to be raised and that's a 2% with exe with exceptions and the exceptions are you know standard is about five of them including Debt
Service and things of that nature so when we have a flat Municipal budget we're not really going into that Levy cap correct yep um I probably I think my Levy cap hold on I think I have it with me uh based on this budget we have a
over 2.9 Million that we can use next year God forbid something happen bo bo they give you those options because you're allowed to carry the the levy cap you can carry three years Appropriations only two years okay but they're two separate beasts and you have to marry the two of
them together and make it work and then before we adopt the budget we're going to have to um approve the extra one% introduce an ordinance an ordinance otherwise the budget doesn't work and corre would have to also if we wanted to
bank the money in the cap Bank we have to do that I believe before cor if you don't do the ordinance I can't Bank anything and you're going to go over all Y how much we're going to have in the cap Bank yeah after depend there's two memos and there's an analysis I provide
Council uh you know the week before the meeting okay okay and the local exam good news is we were not local exam last year so I was under State review from the DCA and
um good news is uh we didn't have any issues we didn't have to make any budget amendments um they agreed with our budget after an extensive view um generally I I like to send over 100 pages of backup documentation for all for all our items for the budget and you
know then it was a they email me for a couple questions we answered them and um they they allowed us to approve our budget as is so that was a good thing uh this year we are local exam and we do meet all the requirements so I will be giving Council a resolution before the
meeting before we introduce the budget to allow us to be local examed so I just need your approval y okay something we do you know every two out of three years um and any other requirement to um adopt
a budget is the affidavit for the oh I'm forgetting the term now affirmative action right that we sign the document correct correct we actually had to have a signature signature and then I do a
certification to the state that all the requirements are met we have a triple triaa bond rating we do as of November of 2023 we were reformed with a AAA Bond
rating um I'll be going out for temporary financing probably unless the market changes dramatically so we'll probably keep it temporary this year as per our financial advisors so we'll do another one-year note in November and we'll we'll get rated so at this stage we'll probably do
it every year you have a choice to do every year or every three years but if you're doing notes um we found out that the cost to get rated far exceeds the savings we get by reaffirming our AAA rating on the interest
okay so that that usually uh I think my note rolls over in early November so they charge us to rate to rer us they do yeah standard of pores is the company we use it's a third party agency so they
charges somebody C what's that I guess someone has to pay yes yeah they do pro they do provide a service but it's more so the financial industry then yeah well they're they're signing off on on on there's a lot of
stuff in the back end that the federal Regulators make them you know they're kind of responsible for a lot of things and and that rating goes a long way people rely on that so they have to do their due diligence and it's it's probably a two-hour um back and forth
with myself and our financial advisors on a zoom call um you know a couple weeks before um I think that's it with the revenues fund balance cap ordinance and local exam um we can go to wrapup or we can go
to comments or any well let's you want you to wrap up well well let's just say if there's any questions just any Oh yes any questions no then at this point we'll go to the wrap up at the at the budget
hearing we have the every year we have those charts and graphs yes yes because I think that's very helpful yep we will um we have two outstanding budget related items um um Chief Lynch provided
an email after Consulting with the volunteer Chiefs um we get Tuesday did not get it um Allison will send it to you I'll send that to you right after the meeting can read it to you real quick yes how's that
sorry uh I wanted to follow up the request on the capital for the PPE line item the current request is for 50,000 that would allow us to purchase approximately 10 sets of PPE after discussion with both Volunteer Fire Chiefs we would like to request to increase the amount to 100,000 per year
this would allow us to purchase up to 20 sets per year so as per year request from 50 to 100 correct doubling it yes so is that going to be divvied up the same way we were divvying up the first 10 yeah because I mean our volunteers
are a volunteer amount so this will allow them to have 10 more units as you're well aware during that process we had to rent six of them to get through the academy um so I guess the um volunteers are increasing which is a good thing so we need to provide that
there was with the 10 I think the the there was a breakdown the breakdown was two for the Professionals for each for the volunteer companies so now we are going to four and eight or yes okay so it'll be proportional to what it
was before but there'll be twice as much in it correct that because I think U Tim Lynch Chief Lynch had mentioned we had to rent I think 78 yeah Farms yep all right and that'll come into capital and the only effect on
the budget would be 5% of of the extra and well we're fine balance I'm okay with that because I have a little left over you know I do is that well the 5% 5% comes out of operating it won't change it I'm okay with the 50,000 I can
come up with the 5% without increasing that light item okay um I put 450 in I didn't quite need as much I left a little bit for this reason um so we're we're good so that's not going to be a issue and we do have a very large good fund balance there if we needed to we're
good and whatever I don't use for that that goes over the capital fund stays under what we call Capital Improvement fund and it's only used for down payments um I had another question I was going over my notes from the other day um I know um Township gives um 75,000 to
each of the volunteer fire companies every year and I think that's the maximum we can it is uh every couple I think in 21 from 75 2020 probably 20 or 21 20 or years I
think four or five years ago Chief Lynch did make a mention that we'll have to consider increasing it at some point yeah I think this summer they may come out I think it's every 4ish years they increase that amount that you're allowed to so next year we'll probably have to increase that figure yeah because that I
think the minimum amount will go up I think with the inflation of C like you know everything 75,000 goes yep that's something that we're already looking at for next year we were 202 was probably like we
were 65,000 I believe we added to go to the max it 6 we went to the max yeah I think we were right around 50 55 then we went we were and then we went up then we went two steps right um us were here we were
there I think it was our first year or second year don't remember the ma second year but I would just keep it INE for next year if that happens yeah the division comes out with a local notice and when that comes out and that's kind of will increase our our um allow Max and then we can we can
Factor it into next year's budget and that's operational yes it is okay any other other item was there a question about a vehicle for um buildings and grounds the mayor did respond and he would like us to move
forward with that with theck I'm fine with giving it this year agree good you know yeah I just see at some point contractual issue over this because a lot of well a few
several people get 225 a month correct but and we actually budgeted in in the operating budget there there is that that amount there is there is there is um but it's contractual uh so if you it's optional it's contractional at a
minimum but if we do provide a vehicle they don't get that stifen right right but so but I guess it I don't haven't looked at the contract no it is recently do they get the option it no we have the option yeah we
do we do so if we say we're giving your vehicle um then that's that that stif stops correct stops and theic stays in Township and I for the small amount of money in the overall budget um we go even if we go forward with truck I would
rather to leave that stifen in there just to cover any minor costs that might go up for public buildings and grounds because we're allowed to transfer within um so I wouldn't even cut that budget well for this year you don't know when you're gonna get the truck by time we you're right so if you do it now we
probably won't get it to next budget at the end of the year and once we have that truck any is that a yes yes yes yes for the vehicle yes yes okay just look at that next time'll because if you do it for one
well it's not one Department then then others might say well you're doing it for buildings and grounds uh why not something we do have to look at in the future I agree yeah I agree once you start with one well we there are a number of departments that have vehicles for people and I assume once we have
this truck anybody can drive it so it's a company vehicle right yeah yeah it it is but it's it's being represented as being for buildings and grounds some people some people would actually have this life but it's you know you're right um it's something we got to look at in
the future I mean um we were we got lucky this year with construction because we couldn't get vehicles for two years um we were going on three years um so we were able to take two years budgets which is one vehicle and for some reason I don't know why but the Ford Escape pricing and the state
contract dropped dramatically in in the one year and we were able to get three for the price of too you know so we actually we actually did very well on that one yeah but in the past we've had to come to you and ask for more money for
vehicles well the vehicles were going crazy it was you couldn't even get one and then I guess I guess everything normalized and dropped yeah so that that worked out well so we're good on that so those were the two open items we had
okay so I do want to thank everybody um for your time and I appreciate question like you know two years ago we had put some funds towards um Township signage do we have any status or update on that
like new Township signage at signage at the entrance of um each entrance to the township we were going to look into putting some better better we'll get back to you on that I'll have to well I guess Administration will have to check because I know Dan was the lead on that and he's not Dan was the but it should
have been picked up somewhere we'll we'll see where that's at Dan was working on it he he had some signs we felt they weren't the kind of signs we wanted we gave some suggestions and it kind of okay kind of stopped there if you could look into that and so you need a signage
update yeah I think like you know right now entrance to entrance to the township if you if you going to Plainsboro or East Miner you see those um welcome to Westminster and yeah and
if you go back about two years ago when this started yeah guys guys is a public meeting guys guys it's a public we're talking to everybody yeah yeah
H um so if if you go back about two years ago there number of us went out actually took pictures of other signs we sent pictures we sent comments we there was a whole thing on what it what we were looking at because um for those who
came later when this got put in the capital budget like four years ago three years ago part of the stipulation was that the council would get to approve the signs before they were in put in or or order so we actually did some work
there was some direction given and at that point the signs that came back and the materials that they were made of were not of the kind of quality we wanted we made some comments and then they kind of stopped for something a little more than you know stop signs no
parking signs they're thin metal we were looking for something that kind of like we have we have those signages at our Parks right those are better looking signs as opposed to the welcome to asence or science so something in that order yeah something yeah if you could
get more welcoming let's take pride in our yes yes yeah we're we're fussy all right um I think so I want one one more time say thank you if you apprciate yeah stay because we
will have public comment I will and um I'm going to put this in the state format if anything does change I do a Reconciliation sheet that I will provide on top of it for any changes like grants come in things of that nature or um if I find an error or anything of that nature
I will I do I always do a re reconciling sheet so you can take this book and reconcile it to the state format because it's condensed so date for the budget uh April 7th
introduction and the second meeting in May um for public hearing and I don't have that off the top of my head are we bumping up that date um for the hearing well I can't go in the first meeting of May because it doesn't meet the requirements of 28 days May 19th May
19th so it's scheduled for the 19th because we only those are only two meeting dates in may we can introduce well I guess that would be the next we would have to the special talk if we're done by the time you passed the budget then you have the
statutory I understand but the issue is I introduced on the 7th because I have to put this in the format I get it reviewed by the auditor you know someone's got to look up my stuff um uh and then I give it to you a week before the meeting that we're at April 7th so
that's so um 28 days exactly the next meet build uh meeting date meeting is that exactly 28 days so we can't do it on that meeting day yeah has to be a full 28 days so okay and then I think April 7th is it the budget has to be in
the first meeting after after March 31st Mar 31st or by that meeting so and you had passed that resolution allow me to do that at the last meeting I believe okay and then UMD you think we'll capit um if we do it
may you should have it by I would say end of June for review and introduction June for C we only have one meeting in June no July we have July July um and then we'll then we'll adopt
July because you got all these projects we do like road projects different things and correct by the time you you approve that budget you have to wait certain amount of time then you got to go out to bid yes getting in late August September for yeah
by the are available we are we'll probably be early this year by a month we're we're in better better Pace we were last is good it is um and when we um we've only made one change here in the capital so when that changes yeah so
we can get a revised page to put in our books so sure when we when we look at them next year we'll uh yeah we be looking at the real one yeah um okay if there's nothing else else any other questions from Council
then I'll open up public comment yeah uh good morning everyone John Church 11 pron place again I want to thank everyone involved for all their hard work on the budget we know it's not easy I uh I've taken a lot of notes here
during these meetings I will write up a summary if if if that's okay and and distribute it to the council members and the administration so once again I appreciate all your hard work and we look forward to the budget introduction and ultimate passage thank you thank you
thank you John and thank you for coming John John yes app and thank you John for all the hard work on the budget and for taking us through it and I think this went really well this year I think I think Administration did listen to
various comments from uh and the mayor and the mayor yeah that's why we didn't have many many items in the wrap up because well we were fortunate that this year our our budget budget especially the appropriation cap fell where it was so we were able to do more yeah and we got
the extra ability to spend it and we have the income so correct uh you know I think I think we're in a very uh other towns would be rather jealous of the position that that we're in right now so um thank you for working with us on this
and thank Administration mayor for uh listening and uh putting a budget that um we can't NP too much on it I appreciate the uh process that we Ed where we were very specific early enough on in you know November December time
frame to provide real solutions and suggestions and I think that helped the process be more smoothly more responsive and more transparent so I would encourage that we continue using that processed that
proc we started that process a few years ago my first year was a little bit more sort of high level vague this year I think we much well you came you came in towards the like when you came in last year so you were you were given the
opport at the at one point to add some things in even before you came in was that sort of rating based system as opposed to individual specific requests which I think it's more each more solution
oriented results and better out kind of categorizes we can have a discussion a little bit so taking taking your time it's my job okay um about the website there'll be enough money make
the website more user friendly so I'm just providing money I'm outed out so a lot of cooks in the kitchen yeah corre yeah good luck I think if we can give our action items to the uh Administration I think um then we could
have a discussion at our we'll look at the other websites I think you sent an email yes and I think you said you could send us what the consultant sent so I get an appeal for what send it to the mayor send on yeah okay okay anything else for anybody
at this point can I get a motion to adjourn salute second all in favor hi thank you meeting is adjourned at 10:42 thank you to day thank you John
thank you Mr church thank you Mr ch