Princeton Budget: No Tax Increase In Light Of Coronavirus Impact

PRINCETON, NJ — The Princeton Council unanimously passed a 0 percent tax increase budget on Monday in light of the new coronavirus impact on the economy.

"The COVID-19 outbreak has impacted budgets everywhere. The municipality is anticipating major decreases in revenue. However, we felt it was important to not increase taxes at this time," said Mayor Liz Lempert.

The council had initially introduced a proposed budget on March 9 of $64.8 million. However, after the coronavirus hit and Gov. Phil Murphy issued a stay-at-home order the council introduced an amendment on April 13 to reduce the budget to $64.1 million.

The public hearing and final action on the proposed $64.1 million budget was held remotely on Monday.

To bring the budget down the council dipped into Princeton's surplus account to use $7.2 million instead of the $6.9 million initially proposed.

What this means for Princeton residents is an average assessed home in town of $841,064 will pay $4,144.93 in municipal property taxes. This is a decrease of about $300 compared to 2019, according to Princeton Chief Financial Officer Sandra Webb.

On Tuesday Murphy announced that towns would be allowed to extend the deadline for second quarter tax payments from May 1 to June 1 via a resolution.

The Council will be holding an emergency meeting this Friday, May 1 to vote on an extension., Lempert said.

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