Brian C. Wahler, Mayor

Mayor and Council Work to Increase Tax Ratables.

Township partners with other towns and agencies for shared services

I know you are all aware that the economy, nationally, statewide and locally is experiencing a significant economic down turn. State-aid from Trenton continues to decline drastically. As your elected officials and as taxpayers ourselves, the Council and I are striving to figure out the best way to maintain the services our residents deserve and how best to contain or lessen the constantly rising costs. Many of the decisions we have made thus far have been painful, but necessary.

Over the last five years, the Township departments have experienced major cuts to their budgets through program and staff reductions. To date, 18 Township positions have been eliminated and a non-essential hiring freeze is in effect. This year, all departments have been requested to present a flat budget, with each department making the decision as to where or what they would cut, again, painful decisions, but necessary.

It is important that our residents continue to receive the many services they now enjoy, many of which in other communities, if available at all, charge a fee. Some of our services include a mini/dump recycling center, which supplies free leaf bags and leaf pickups, as well as two yearly curbside pickups by appointment. Over 40 free recreation programs are available for children and adults; our seniors, over 5000 who are registered at the Senior Center, are served a nutritious breakfast and lunch every day and are provided with a wide variety of other services including counseling and health education. The Health Department sponsors free health clinics and both J. F. Kennedy and J. W. Westergard Libraries offer a myriad of outstanding free programs for people of all ages. Piscataway is fortunate to have a highly skilled and professional police department as well as hundreds of well trained, fully equipped, firefighters and rescue squad members to protect our community as often and whenever needed. These are just a very few of the many services we are working to maintain during this challenging period.

Township departments also provides a number of services to the Piscataway Board of Education including paying for the installation of the multi-purpose artificial turf field, running track, soccer goals, football goal posts, player benches and high jump, long jump and pole vault areas at Piscataway High School stadium at a cost of approximately one million dollars. The Township has funded the cost of crack repair, color coating, striping and tennis net replacement at all eight high school tennis courts. The Township Clerk’s office runs the School Board Election. The Senior Center participates in the out of school suspension program offering Piscataway school students the option of doing community service rather than staying home. Our television studio (PCTV) airs a variety of school events and programs including Our Schools in Piscataway and Piscataway Schools: Events & Ideas produced on a regular basis by the school district’s TV personnel. Free public computers at each library with Internet access allow students to complete homework assignments after schools are closed. While our Police Department provides free security at certain school events, one of the most important ongoing programs they provide to all Township schools is the DARE program for fifth graders. The Department of Public Works cleared sanitary sewer blockages at the high school, twice last year, and flushes the sanitary sewer routinely at the Eisenhower Elementary School. The Department of Public Works, road division, constructed walkways at Grandview and Arbor Elementary Schools and Quibbletown and Schor Middle Schools and installed curbing at the Martin Luther King School. These are just a few of the many ways Township departments interact with the schools in providing services that benefit the children of our community. The Council and I have also offered to make the municipal fueling station available to the Board of Education.

Recognizing several years ago that sharing services with other communities would help cut costs, we investigated and entered into several agreements with other towns. For instance, we are the lead agency with many towns in purchasing biodegradable leaf bags, salt for weather related conditions and fuel. We are the distribution center for the Middlesex County Meals-On-Wheels program and we are part of a purchasing cooperative with Middlesex County. We have entered into interlocal municipal service agreements with the MCIA Recycling Program and the MCUA Solid Waste Program. We have a contract with Edison Animal Control Center, the Middlesex County Nursing Services, and we have outsourced our computer technology services to Rutgers University. We have also been working with Rutgers University on its plans for a joint educational and private business expansion of the Livingston Campus. We are doing so in order to increase the Township’s tax ratable base. The private business portion of the Rutgers expansion will bring hundreds of thousands of dollars of tax revenue to the Township. We are also at the forefront of attracting data centers into existing vacant office buildings, reversing the lost tax revenue. These data centers are being encouraged because they place such a small impact on our infrastructure and create very little traffic. We are continuing to pursue shared services with other communities or agencies as well as examining other avenues to cutting costs and increasing revenue.

If you have ideas to improve our Township's efficient delivery of services or activities we can share with other Townships I would appreciate hearing from you. Also, if I can offer you any other assistance, please do not hesitate to contact my office at 732-562-7627.

Reminders: As the warm weather is fast approaching, I want to remind residents that dumping anywhere in our town is illegal and may be subject to prosecution and a stiff fine. I ask also that you curb your dog and be sure to pick up after them in all public and private areas, and that includes our parks.