Mercer County Tax Rate to Increase 4.5 Cents

Editor's Note: The following is a news release issued by the Mercer County administration.

Mercer County Executive Brian Hughes [Thursday evening] introduced his administration’s annual proposed budget, a $286.4 million plan that seeks to limit spending while maintaining services.

Hughes told the Board of Chosen Freeholders during the Feb. 23 presentation at the county’s McDade Administration Building that county finances have taken a hit from at least three straight years of declining equalized value, but that signs of an economic revival are on the horizon.

“We are optimistic that recent development will spur further interest and result in an economic boom to our region,” Hughes said, pointing to projects such as Capital Health System’s new hospital in Hopewell Township, the expanded Pediatrics Emergency Services at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital at Hamilton, Church and Dwight’s expansion into Ewing, and planned growth at Quaker Bridge Mall in Lawrence and the surrounding area.

The proposed budget, which now will be reviewed by the freeholder board for its approval and adoption, stays within the mandated 2-percent cap and represents a 4.5-cent increase in the county tax rate, to 53 cents per $100 of assessed property value.

That rate is still below the 54-cent tax rate Hughes inherited when he first took office in 2004. The proposed budget includes the use of about 50 percent of the county surplus, or about $10.7 million.

A resident’s tax rate will rise or fall depending on his or her municipality once the tax rate is equalized. County taxes are equalized to reflect the difference between municipal property assessments and property market values, meaning the actual rate many property owners are charged will increase.

Hughes said that this year’s budget presents significant challenges, including a ratable base that has declined nearly 8 percent, or more than $18 million, over the past three years, as well as the rising expense of operating an “aged and inefficient” county correctional facility.

But recent actions such as selling the financially draining Geriatric Center and sharing youth detention services with Middlesex County continue to help the county cut costs, he said.

“We are reducing the size and scope of county government in a thoughtful and planned manner – without reducing services,” Hughes said.